This has been a difficult summer so far, and there’s no end in sight yet.
Mom has been sick since she arrived on Paros on June 1 and ended up in hospital for 2 weeks with COVID and pneumonia. Then, returning to Paros she was on oxygen for a month.
And she’s been staying with me cause she needs assistance and care.
While she was getting better life got a little easier. She began cooking again so I’d come home to a cooked meal instead of having to cook for both of us (I don’t like having to cook! I only cook when I want to!)
Now mom’s been unwell for a week again. Needing more care again. And me being busier than ever with dog grooming.
It’s not been an easy summer… yet she’s my mother. I have to look after her, and I want to do it too. And I did return to Greece to be with mom – to enjoy her company while she was well but to assist when she wasn’t. So I’m not complaining…
But I miss being alone and having my space to myself. I really really miss having my tiny place to myself.
Mom plans to return to Athens in 5 weeks. Let’s hope she’s better by then or I will have to go with her…
I have two white beach tops which I love. I bought one the first summer after I moved here and the other from a year or two later and wore them a lot.
At the time I wore tinted sunscreen all the time and as a result a lot of my tops were stained around the neck. I’ve tried bleaching them but I can’t seem to get rid of the grimy look.
I didn’t want to throw them out, so I decided to dye them.
But being me and being impatient, I couldn’t let it wait till I found a place on Paros which sold fabric dye, so I looked up natural fabric dyeing online. Turns out the whole mordant thing was too much for me, so I decided to just go for it and see what I’d get. After all, the tops were at the end of their life as they were, I didn’t have much to lose…
Basically, what I learned in my reading was that anything that stains will dye fabric. Duh. It will fade over time, but heck, you can always re-dye, right?
Nothing stains like turmeric. It’s one reason I dislike using it. It stains everything: the sink, any tupperware you put leftovers in, the table, everything it touches.
What could possibly go wrong?
So, I put the turmeric I had in my cupboard for the last year into the biggest pot I own, added a pinch of salt (’cause I remembered somewhere that that helps set colours, but really, I had no idea). Once it boiled, I let it cool a little so I didn’t cook my tops, and dipped them in, stirring with a metal spoon.
I tried two methods. First, I tried an ombre with one top, but being me and being impatient (and being sloppy) I let the dyed bits touch the white bits, so I had to drizzle some dye onto the white to make it not look so odd.
This is the result after rinsing but before washing:
As you can see, I didn’t even manage to dye it evenly on both sides… oops. Didn’t plan that out very well.
With the other top I decided to relive my youth and used rubber bands to tie dye it. I sunk it all into the dye and this is the result after rinsing and prior to washing:
And here is the result after washing twice. A much softer yellow, but still pretty. This top looks better than the other one. I think the other one will need re-dyeing…
Note to self: buy more turmeric.
Anyway, thought I’d share my experiment in case you have turmeric in your pantry that you aren’t sure what to do with.
Something has finally happened at the building site after a period of nothingness. I took these pics 2 days ago so (hopefully) they’ll have progressed a bit since then. But everything stops again in 2 days ’cause no one builds here in August. Hopefully all the columns will be ready to pour before they stop work, so come September they can get right back to it.
Still, it was good to see a few things had been done.
On the container front, I was finally able to get ahold of the big crane guy and get that sorted.
You can see the steps below – first he had to pick up the container from its precarious drunken position and move it onto his truck.
Once it was loaded, he was able to maneuver the truck into a better position in order to lift the container straight out onto the concrete.
Using some odds bits of timber as measures, he placed it as square in the center as he could.
The idea is that there is a concreted area on both sides of the container which faces north to south (front door north, back south) giving me shade in the morning on one side and in the afternoon on the other. That way, once I put up shade sails, I will have usable space outside the container on both sides in order to work.
All under the watchful eye of Vincent – mom’s faithful assistant.
So, now I have the container in place finally. Once I get power to the land (don’t hold your breath!) I can begin working on it!
One thing I learned from the big crane guy was that my container was a meat transport container. That’s why it’s so heavy and extra tall. It has metal pipes running the length of the ceiling inside which I presumed were for the cold air, but they’re for hanging meat.
Lovely.
I hope it’s not ‘silence of the lambs (or cows)’ in there…
Oh well, the good news is that the insulation should be really good…
So, all is moving right along at a snail’s pace, but at least one thing has been ticked off the mile long to do list.
I’d been reading a book a while ago and really can’t remember the title or author. But inside there was something about vampires – the energy sucking type, not the bloody sucking type.
It prompted me to write about it at the time but I never got further than sourcing this photo (thank you AI).
However, today I feel I have reached a peak of anger, frustration, and general stress that I cannot hold it in anymore.
I am putting way too much of my own energy into the problems I see around me all the time.
The destruction of this and other Greek islands in the name of tourism. I get involved where I can, but we can’t achieve anything real against the greed which abounds around us. And I get angry.
The news is horrible every single day. I try to avoid it, but living with someone who watches TV all day every day, I am now accidentally seeing the news on a much more regular basis. I lived so happily for so many years never watching TV, not reading papers, and only hearing about things that affected me locally.
Ignorance is bliss.
Now I constantly upset. Animal abuse. Horrific things, bad enough that they are not just put on Facebook, but on the national news! Disease among the ruminants in Greece today, first time ever, meaning that thousands of animals will most likely need to be destroyed. Fires, everywhere, all the time. And so many idiots leaving their pets behind!
I’ve had it.
I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’m considering taking a break from the internet for my mental health. And maybe wear ear phones with music so I can’t hear the news.
I don’t know.
I’m just so upset so often. It can’t be good for me.
This is something I worked on with my niece Eleni before summer. She wanted to do something creative, to paint or sculpt or something.
I had a small MDF board lying around which I offered for her first go at painting with acrylics. She chose the theme and the colours and, with my guidance, she began to work on it.
The first thing you need is a background, so using a sponge she applied the colours she wanted to produce this abstract green and yellow base.
Once that was done, I sketched in the shape of the pineapple for her so she could begin to apply paint. This is how it ended up looking. Not too shabby for someone who has never picked up a paintbrush in her life!
Sorry the photo is a bit blurry but it’s the only one I have at that stage.
Eleni didn’t want to continue with it after that and asked me to finish it for her, which I did the other day. To be honest I was sick of seeing it lying around (like so much of my art)…
This is the finished product. All that remains is to give it to Eleni to put in her home. It didn’t turn out bad at all, I think. All I did was deepen the shadows, add highlights and basically give it more depth and detail.
Well done, Eleni. I look forward to working with you again after the busy summer season.
I’m very good at doing eyes. I know that. So, I decided to focus on eyes for a little while ’cause I also love doing them. So I’ve done a few pieces of white marble with cat’s eyes which are fascinating and greek island related.
Why do I feel I have to do island related paintings? Well, ’cause I think people who live here, visit here or have summer homes here might be looking for island related items for their homes…
But while I sat there painting, late one evening, mom watching TV from the couch, I played with a few other themes.
Some whales instead of the usual fish…
And another bright octopus.
Not sure what you all think of these, but personally, I like the eyes best. I’m thinking dog eyes, horse eyes, alpaca and cow eyes cause they are particularly soulful… and even human eyes…
I just need to go out and find more pieces of marble. All I have in my collection now is small pieces, more suited to small bugs, like my bees.
Remember my bees?
I’m quite fond of my little bee, currently living in the USA.
Maybe I will do more bees… Though I am running out of space to keep my rocks and marble pieces…
I’ve been picturing a wall mounted narrow shelf, made from pallet wood, to hold it all. It would be really heavy of course… and I’d need the time and access to my tools… Maybe in winter…
Things have been busy lately. Hectic really. I seem to always be going on an errand, grooming a dog, returning from an errand, cooking,shopping for groceries, trying to keep the house clean, and still getting in a swim now and then!
And on the afternoons when I’m not too busy, I sit at the kitchen table and play with paints. It’s a good way to de-stress. If you can find the time… preferably not late at night because then I can’t sleep cause I’m wound up.
I’ve been inspired now and then to try something new just for a change.
So, here are my latest painted rocks. Above a very painterly donkey. I’d gotten the idea to use an old book I’d been given to decoupage a couple of stones just to see how they would turn out. I used larger rocks for these and its not perfect but I kinda like it.
Below is a cat treated the same way…
Next the tried and true octopus, but trying brighter colours and more contrast. Not sure I like it, but its not too bad.
I had to redo this cat cause the watercolours I was using on all my marble paintings doesn’t work so well on rocks. It’s now much better.
I also thought I’d try a couple of very graphic style stones…
These I really like. I love the stark contrast between the black and white.
So, I need a bit of rest before I gotta get up and greet visitors coming to see mom. Who is getting better all the time. She will soon be back to bossing me around.
I think I mentioned working on half the kitchen table. Not much space, but enough to work on smaller projects like fridge magnets and rocks. Since I still had some wooden shapes, I’d gotten on Temu, I decided to go ahead and finish them all. I also found I still had some magnets, so I was able to finish them.
I used acrylic paint to do these, and a very very thin rigger brush to get the fine lines.
I love these little plant magnets, though I’m not thrilled with the mushroom ones…
I love the cats too and am thinking I need to do more of these. Maybe a little bigger. Maybe as coasters as well…
Remember these?
This is what they look like now. The evil eye, a very popular theme in Greece. Much better.
I had some more of these round flat pieces so I did some more simple colourful sea urchins.
Remember these?
Now they’re starfish. Or they could be urchins if that’s how you prefer to see them. But they’re not. They’re starfish.
I had a few more of these half rounds so I made more stylized urchins. I think I prefer these 3D ones, but both are nice.
Lastly, remember these fish – the top ones were made using the wood burning marker and the bottom ones were decoupaged.
This is what they look like now. Much more fun!
I’ve ordered more wooden shapes, some of the same and others in different sizes, not sure what I’ll make when I get them, but they’re fun to work with!
These little magnets are cute and make great little presents of the ‘stocking filler’ sort.
I’ve been ‘playing’ with some smaller projects lately, having reclaimed half the kitchen table, but they’re not entirely finished and photographed yet. So, till then I thought I’d post something just to keep the blog hopping.
I had planned this post to just be a rave about the new art supply drawers I bought on Temu. I am so happy with it! It fit in all my pastels, including an unopened box and some packs of willow charcoal I had stuffed here and there.
It even had room for my pencils – watercolour pencils, pastel pencils and ink pencils. All in one place now. Which means I now have some empty jars to spread out my paint brushes and other tools…
Since I got my new pastel storage box, and due to the fact that I’ve been watching so many organising and decluttering videos on Youtube lately, I’ve been inspired to share some of my own storage and organisation solutions.
Given I’m a creator (I won’t say artist cause I do all kinds of things) and my home has to work as a home as well as a studio, I’ve had to be creative with my storage. So here are some examples.
Firstly, who can live without one of these gorgeous drawer units from Ikea? I’d love a ton of them. They’re beautiful and so handy. Mine holds the glue guns and glue sticks in the big drawer, and markers, batteries, other glues and office stuff in the smaller ones.
And then there’s my gorgeous hotel reception key cubicle thingy I bought at an antique shop a few years ago, removed the room numbers, painted the front white but kept the inside of it blue. Then, using some thick cardboard, I made little boxes to act as drawers for all kinds of small items like various sized and type of beads, brooch pins, pegs, acrylic shapes, whatever I might need at some stage. Of course, these are mostly winter project materials. Little labels tell me what’s in each box so I don’t have to go searching.
I got little boxes below at Jumbo (a store that sell all kinds of things cheap). I bought some that come in sets of 4 and some that came as individual boxes. I did the same thing with the lables here too. These are a little bigger so hold larger stuff, or more items.
To the left of the boxes you can see some tools in jars on the right and some in an Ikea cutlery drying thing I have no room for in my kitchen.
I’ve temporarily placed 5 of the individual boxes under my monitor to raise it to the right height. I used to have a platform I’d made for it, but I hadn’t used the right type of wood and it had bowed under the weight, so it wasn’t really working for me any more.
I have this cute little basket which used to hang next to my computer where I kept external drives and USB sticks etc. But I got sick of leaving sunglasses all over the place, so I moved it to near the front door. Now I just pop my sunnies in there soon as I come in the door.
I got this cute bunny on Temu that I spray painted white (cause he’s much cuter like that). He now sits near the front door holding my business cards.
Mind you, I still have the business card holder I made out of a ruler, after being inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.
In front of the TV, I have the drop box I made for my kitchen in Tasmania. Its there for anything I want to grab before I head out the door… plus a pair of garden trimmers cause I’m constantly losing them. And I don’t even have a garden!
On the other side of the TV is this lovely galvanised caddy I bought (you guessed it!) on Temu. For now it holds some odds and ends on display, but one day it will have a higher purpose!
I made these 3 drawers to fit in the bookcase for added storage. These hold my water colours, all my tape and my oil paints. Turns out I enjoy making box/drawers!
Above my monitor I have 4 more box/drawers. These I bought at Jumbo and they fit perfectly. All I did to these was to decoupage them with the same magazine ads I did on the other drawers so they tie in together. They hold things like my camera, string and rope, candles and matches etc.
There is always a ton of stuff in jars and bottles you can’t put in drawers or boxes. I have a shelf dedicated to that.
Under the shelf that holds the printer I have a box which holds tools I need to keep in easy reach – a hammer, some nails, some screws and screw drivers, some sanding pads, a box cutter, etc. Next to the printer is a shoe box decoupaged to hide electrical cables. And a spare box, cause who can resist keeping ‘good boxes’… sigh. My excuse: when I do sculpture workshops, I need small boxes to pack the finished figures into for the participants to take home.
The yogurt containers I upcycled recently are currently living on top of the fridge with labels as well. Nothing says ‘I’m organised’ than having labels on everything, even if you can never find what you’re after!
I have a million suitcases of all sizes, they’re ideal for pretty storage. A small one under the TV holds supplies for my workshops. And larger paint tins next to that. I really don’t like all these in the house, but it gets so hot outside in my outdoor cabinet that I worry the contents will dry out too fast.
I have a beautiful antique hat and coat hook where I hang all the aprons for sculpture workshop participants. Next to that is the cabinet I made over that holds towels.
A couple more small suitcases live under that, holding wire and wire tools, and felt and felting tools.
In my bedroom, the bedside table is a little shelf unit I found in bad need of some TLC. Its baskets were rotten so I put in shelves and then made a couple of boxes to hide electrical cords and other bedside stuff. The middle shelf houses my modem… Not the best place for it, but its the only phone outlet in the house.
On the other side of the room is the kitchen dresser I made over which holds my linen up the top and boots and grooming stuff in the lower sections.
Opposite that is the suitcase stack. I’ve had these suitcases for years and they’ve been in all my homes and held all kinds of things for me… always labelled of course!
So that’s a quick tour of my home and my storage solutions. It’s an ever-changing, ever-growing situation, as needs change.
Not long ago I bought two long rectangular canvases to paint on, and last week, with Peter and Kelly on Syros, I converted my home back into a studio to do this painting. It’s not like I haven’t got about 6 unfinished paintings lying around needing work…
The brief for this one was something beachy, in neutral tones to go over the bed in an air bnb. Once I decided what I was going to paint it went pretty smoothly, though there were a couple of false starts… Hence (good word) it took me almost all week to finish it.
Given my entire kitchen/living room is my studio, I painted on my kitchen table and set it on the stove to dry between sessions. That way I could look at it when I wasn’t working on it, to decide what it needed. Its my process. I need to live with my work a while before I decide its done and can sign it.
My life is in a constant state of moving things around – off the kitchen table and bench so I can cook, back so I can work, from here to there, from there to here but a little to the left, then back again…
And now mom is staying with me, I have to cook almost every day… Mom is a real greek housewife and she expects me to be one too… sigh… I never cooked every single day, but I make her breakfast every morning and I cook lunch one day, eat leftovers the next. However, I must make a fresh salad every day.
This is not easy for me; I don’t cook much. Not since quite a few years ago when an ex felt the food I cooked wasn’t filling enough cause there was not nearly enough meat to satisfy his manly hunger. Since then, I basically cook what I want to eat and if you/he/anyone doesn’t like it, they’re welcome to cook for themselves.
So, the studio has been sacrificed to the kitchen gods. At least for a while.
But mom is getting stronger every day (thanks to my amazing cooking!) and hopefully she’ll be back to full strength soon enough.
BTW – The staged photos are thanks to Photoshop… After all, how else am I going to stage something when I don’t have the wall space?
junk4joy 