month in review: march with miró
i took myself an adventure to the family home and workshop of joan miró in mont roig, and pondered the rhythms of "working like a farmer" as miró instructed.
for my birthday this month, i took myself to a spot that i have been wanting to visit since we moved here: joan miró’s home and studio/workshop outside his hometown of mont roig. it’s about an hour drive away from here, through mountains and gorgeous roadways. if you are thinking you don’t know who this artist is, yes, actually, yes you do: he was all over my art history books in university and he is one of the most famous spanish painters, ranking up with picasso and gaudí. In fact, gaudí was born just down the road from miró in reus, and picasso too spent time in this area, along with other well-known artists–so the area is called the paisatge dels genis in catalan: the landscape of the geniuses.
so on a gorgeous sunday morning, i drove into this landscape and landed at miro’s home and workshop right towards the beginning of their opening hours, which gave me the place all to myself, gloriously. i got to wander through the home at my own pace, stand for a nice long space of time in the workshop, listen to the audioguide to learn all the details, and notice details of my own (such as the tile patterning in each room, like low-maintenance but just-as-beautiful rugs). i was able to sit on the ledge of the patio of the workshop and write in my journal, undisturbed, unwatched. as i was getting ready to leave, there were others coming in, and i thought: perfect timing.
and then it hit me: i was actually really enjoying being by myself for the start of my birthday. i thought it would be sad, but here i was, so content. i got to go at my own pace, and only be concerned with myself (and if you are a mom, you know how rare that is) while i explored the environment and workspace of a genius painter.
did you know that mirós father told him, about his dreams of being a painter as a young person, “it’s nice that you paint, it will be a great hobby, but you need to have a real job,” and so miró started out as an accountant, as a clerk? so no surprise then that gave him a mental breakdown and in his late 20s he abandoned a “real job” and went to paris and got connected to the surrealist movement there, where he then became an important figure in the movement, and in fact in the art world as a whole.
this, too, gave me hope. the path wasn’t straightforward. it included a breakdown. it included moving around, trying new things. not staying in one style. and yet, he triumphed. and mightily. and in his own lifetime.
throughout his life, miró kept coming back to his family home in catalunya, to mont roig, at least whenever wars and dictatorships would allow. he spent a lot of time in paris, in barcelona where he spent most of his childhood, and in palma, mallorca, where his wife was from. but mont-roig was the family home. the house was purchased by his grandfather (from some shady colonialist dude), and then his father added a chapel (that had actual services open to the public), and joan added the workshop. it was the place he came back to, the place that was “home” despite living in many other places.
joan miró, i learned thanks to the audioguide, talked about “working like a farmer,” and i pondered in my journal what he meant by that. i thought about my own rhythms here, how i have designated that winters are for writing (and reading) by the fire, and the growing seasons are for the garden and the studio. i have often thought of myself as having “farmer rhythms,” with seasons that are very full and busy and then a more slow season.
and so now, with spring in full swing, it is time to really lean into that painting season.
to, as miro said, “work like a farmer.”
want to come explore the landscape of the geniuses with me? oh you can do that! take a look at the l’Artesania website to learn more.
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I can't wait to visit this place. The tile in Spain and Portugal absolutely delights and astounds.