“Utreia et Susiea. Deus Adjuva nos!”
(Let’s further, let’s go beyond and onward. With God’s help.)
watercolor on 300 gsm paper
8 x 11.5 inches
2020
The latter part of 2019 found me and my husband walking parts of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We walked over 400 kilometers in 20 days, from Pamplona to Los Arcos, then from Leon all the way to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the remains of St. James the Greater are preserved and venerated. It was a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, as well for guidance in the years still ahead.
The latter part of 2019 found me and my husband walking parts of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We walked over 400 kilometers in 20 days, from Pamplona to Los Arcos, then from Leon all the way to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the remains of St. James the Greater are preserved and venerated. It was a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, as well for guidance in the years still ahead.
We wanted to experience all that the Camino has to offer and, as many peregrinos will tell you, as much as with the joy, friendship, camaraderie and the general feel-good atmosphere of the Camino, exhaustion and pain is a non-negotiable and ever-present part of the experience too.
watercolor on paper
7.5 x 5.5 inches
2021
watercolor on paper
7.5 x 5.5 inches
2021
We wanted to experience all that the Camino has to offer and, as many peregrinos will tell you, as much as with the joy, friendship, camaraderie and the general feel-good atmosphere of the Camino, exhaustion and pain is a non-negotiable and ever-present part of the experience too.
Crimson Welcome” derives from that painful part. A couple of days after starting off in Pamplona, I began to suffer from plantar fasciitis in my right foot. After a kilometer or so of walking, the pain would begin and my right foot would start to swell. I’d then have to walk the rest of that day in pain. It was while we were on our way to Villafranca del Bierzo that I had to sit down outside a Meson, tired and hurting from my plantar fasciitis.
watercolor on paper
5 x 7 inches
2021
watercolor on paper
5 x 7 inches
2021
Crimson Welcome” derives from that painful part. A couple of days after starting off in Pamplona, I began to suffer from plantar fasciitis in my right foot. After a kilometer or so of walking, the pain would begin and my right foot would start to swell. I’d then have to walk the rest of that day in pain. It was while we were on our way to Villafranca del Bierzo that I had to sit down outside a Meson, tired and hurting from my plantar fasciitis.
As I sat, I saw this pot of vibrant red geraniums on the Meson’s window sill. It appeared to be telling me “Welcome to the Camino”. Instead of getting depressed, however, it sent a surge of energy into my body and I continued my walk with renewed strength and purpose. I soldiered through for over a week after and finished the Camino, walking on steady legs and aching foot. The Camino provides. – Irma Lara, 17 August 2021
watercolor on 300 gsm paper
15 x 10 inches
2020
watercolor on 300 gsm paper
15 x 10 inches
2020
As I sat, I saw this pot of vibrant red geraniums on the Meson’s window sill. It appeared to be telling me “Welcome to the Camino”. Instead of getting depressed, however, it sent a surge of energy into my body and I continued my walk with renewed strength and purpose. I soldiered through for over a week after and finished the Camino, walking on steady legs and aching foot. The Camino provides. – Irma Lara, 17 August 2021
Translated lyrics of
Chanson de Pèlerins
Composer: Jean-Claude Benazet
“Every morning we take the path, Every morning we go further.
Day after day, the road calls us
It is the voice of Compostela.
Go further! Go further!
And go higher! God assist us!
Dirt road and Faith
Millennium way of Europe,
The Milky Way of Charlemagne
This is the way all my pilgrims.
Go further! Go further!
And go higher! God assist us!
And while there at the end of the continent,
Messire Jacques waits ahead,
Always his fixed smile
The sun dies in Finistère.
Go further! Go further!
And go higher! God assist us!”