u

        from matplotlib import pyplot as plt

        aa=plt.gca().get_yticklabels() if ax is None else ax.get_yticklabels()

        for k in aa : k.set_fontsize(self.fontsize_ticks)

    def gridspec(self,nrows,ncols,**kargs) :

        """ generates a GridSpec array. See matplotlib.gridspec.GridSpec """

        import matplotlib.gridspec as gridspec

        return gridspec.GridSpec(nrows,ncols,**kargs)

    #

    # metadata PROPERTIES

    @property