Toro de Osborne (40)

"Toro de Osborne (40)", oil on canvas, 24x24". For sale on Etsy.

The Toro de Osborne, or Osborne bull, has become one of the iconic symbols of Spain. There are about 90 of the 46-foot-tall "bullboards" left standing across the landscape of Spain. They started off as billboards for the Osborne sherry company. They used to all have the word "Osborne" printed on them. They were almost taken down in the 1990s when a law was passed to remove all billboards in the country, but public response saved the signs. As a compromise, almost all of the signs were painted a solid black to remove the advertising.

I have never been to Spain, so I haven't seen any of these signs in person. I have known for a while that the signs were there, but I had no idea about their backstory until I looked it up for this painting. The source for this painting was a photo that I found on Flickr. I cropped it and changed the colors in my painting. I wanted an image that was not postcard-perfect, but more of a quick glimpse as seen from a speeding car, something more like what I would see if I went there myself. Through the process of painting, I feel like I have experienced the space in a way, and now there is a record of that fleeting snapshot moment.

Whenever possible, I like to do things in real life to go along with my paintings. In this case, I would have liked to try Osborne sherry or another sherry for the first time, but none was readily available. So instead, I purchased some Spanish wine and tapas de queso (a fancy phrase for "cheese wedges") at my trusty local Trader Joe's.

The wine was a 2011 La Granja 360 Garnacha Syrah. The cheeses were Iberico, Cabra al Vino, and Manchego. It was a tasty way to deepen my "armchair" long-distance Spain experience.