Xavier Gonzalez

Pico Veleta — Oil on Canvas, 8 inches x 10 inches, August 5, 2025

To fully understand this particular painting, you have to know the legend of the virgen de las nieves. Three hundred years ago, on 5 August 1717, a priest and his assistant was caught on a storm while crossing the Pico Veleta. In desperation, the travelers prayed for Virgin Mary for a miracle.

According to the legend, Virgin Mary appeared before the travelers and calmed the storm. So in honor of this miracle, a shrine was built in her honor.

From some distance from this Shrine, I sat down and painted two paintings at the Sierra Nevada on this day, unaware of the legend and the significance of August 5th. Honestly, the view from the mountain is so beautiful that it’s easy enough to forget about all the old tales, and just to admire the scenery.

Painting near the shrine of the snow virgin on August 5, 2025

From a few plein air paintings that I completed during this trip, this painting of the Pico Veleta is one of my favorite, full of good memories. And, a few days after visiting the snow virgin, and I also experienced an unexpected blessing, but that story is for another day.

This painting will be exhibited at the Art Students League of New York starting on 24 October 2025 through 23 November 2025.

My trip to Spain began in July. The planning for this trip had begun more than a year ago when I received the Xavier Gonzalez and Ethel Edwards Travel Grant in 2024.

As soon as I received the grant, I knew I wanted to paint in Spain, so I began to prepare itinerary as well as a plan to bring my painting materials.

Painting in Pyrenees. It began to rain so took a long break to paint a tree.

Traveling with simple art supply is a one thing, but traveling with oil paint and necessary chemicals takes another level of planning.

And, if I were to paint portraiture, I would just bring my minimal palette, but I had to bring additional colors to paint the nature, adding cadmium yellow and shades of greens and blues. I also packed lavender spike oil instead of odorless mineral sprit.

I test drove a few different pochade boxes in preparation for this trip and have used all of them for a year, and then eventually choosing one that I carried all over Spain. I also walked 100+ Kilometers carrying this through El Camino, but I will save that story for another time.

Because I was staying in small hotels and guest houses, I quickly found that I couldn’t use the lavender spike oil for painting. It smelled too strong, and there wasn’t a good way to keep my paintings indoors.

Once I got back to Barcelona, though, I was able to buy some odorless mineral spirits. That was nice—I like this European version of spirit better than the American ones.

Catalonia truly is a haven for painters and outdoor enthusiasts. Its mountains, rivers, ocean, and manmade buildings and monuments stimulate imagination.

And, if all the eye candy is not enough one can definitely be inspired by fresh food or variety of cured meat, which all can be readily packaged for painting in the Spanish wilderness.

And because the wild Spanish sun stays lit for additional hours than the one from New York City, I felt energized and didn’t feel tired at all during my stay.