Los Aquarales de Valpalmas

My inspiration for nature is my visit to the Bardenas Reales et Riglos areas of the Aragon region of northern Spain starting with landscapes.

The first quilt is of the landscape of ‘Los Aquarales de Valpalmas’. The Aquarales is like the Bardenas Reales but on a much smaller scale. Both areas have a characteristic morphology known as badlands and are formed by the erosion of the clay landscape, in the Bardenas the cliffs can reach a height of 150m but they are only a scant 20m in the Aquarales. The landscape of multiple columns and pinnacles of differing forms and sizes a third of the size of those 50km away in the Bardenas.

I was intrigued by the shapes and forms of the clay and sandstone landscape, dry and crumbly until it rains when it becomes a quagmire and the region is best avoided. We walked in the Bardenas where the scenery was lunar-like but the Aquarales was, to me more intriguing because of its scale, there was more relief and definition . I chose this photograph due to the layers that were evident. The fabric is silk noil, I needed to give an idea of the roughness of the crumbly surface, which is painted. Each pinnacle or column in the foreground is appliquéd by hand so that it stands proud from the back drop. It is all machine stitched before the pieces were assembled on to the background.