Having had to cancel a short painting trip to Mexico a few weeks ago (thanks, stomach flu!), I decided to roll all that travel energy into planning a bigger trip for the summer. And I love planning trips – especially to new places!

Yes, I’m one of those people who dives into researching a destination, spending hours upon hours on the computer. I assign a small leather-bound journal (from an inventory of many) to the new trip, and stow in it all the info I find about restaurants, possible flights or trains, must-see museums and sights, and very importantly, painting-worthy spots to visit. I get a thrill making up the itinerary on Excel and pasting it into my journal – those of you who’ve travelled with me are now giggling because YOU KNOW!

As of the writing of this post, I’m set for destinations in Portugal, Spain and Italy, and wish I could leave tomorrow (stomach flu is obviously all gone)! So to get even more jazzed about the trip, I decided to paint a miniature of one of the cities I’ll be visiting – Barcelona. My husband and son have been there a number of times but without me, and I’ve had the luxury of drooling over their many pictures.

I kept the drooling in check as I painted from this one of Antoni Gaudi’s Park Güell and can’t wait to see it for myself soon.

Park Güell Lookout, Barcelona

Park Güell Lookout, Barcelona – miniature 2.5″ x 3.5″

(Update: This piece has been sold.)