Category Archives: art

march 14. a month of daily art.

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Yes, you are seeing the same thing I posted yesterday, but with one addition.

Turns out I couldn’t find a ready-made frame to fit 3 little paintings, so I bought these square frames which fit 4 of them!

I chose to paint an orange flower to finish off the set, on a purple background. That way they’re all connected by colour.

I may have to paint the frames black, but I like the light wood. We’ll see on that.

I haven’t chosen the correct layout for them yet either, but I painted the cardboard edges black and got some black card stock to mount them on when I frame them. They really pop on black. I’ll share photos of the finished product when its ready.

Meanwhile, the wind continues and the weather doesn’t encourage too much time outdoors. When the sun comes out its beautiful but windy. When the sun disappears, as it has all throughout the day, being chased by clouds, its chilly. Eh. Its March. Traditionally a windy month on a windy island in a group of windy islands.

Not a skerick of progress has been made on an online shop. I think I need to get up and sit at the computer and focus on that alone for 2 or 10 hours or so… Sometimes I really hate all this online stuff. It’s very necessary, but it takes up so much time! Just maintaining an online presence (for grooming as well as my art) is so time consuming, and I know I don’t do close to enough.

How do people do it? Manage to run an online business and still be creative?

Beats me.

z

march 13. a month of daily art.

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Today the wind outside my front door is so strong I thought it would take Lainee all the way to Naxos soon as I opened the front door.

Luckily, I had her on a lead!

Anyway, thought I’d try something a bit different today.

Having spent yesterday morning cleaning up the outside areas of my little palace, I decided it was time to pay some attention to the inside. (That’s not the something different I mentioned above, though the way things have been going lately, it is rather a new thing for me…).

I finally unpacked my suitcase and sorted the mess off my kitchen table/desk. Basically, I moved most of it to the kitchen counter, but I did actually sort out a few things into a ‘I’ll never use these box’ to get rid of/give away. The idea is that I’ll go through every corner of my house, sorting and tidying as I go. Slowly. Like one day at a time…

I also varnished the two trays I’d finished before going to Athens, so they’re ready to sell if I ever when get some kind of online shop happening.

As I went through some drawers I found these little squares of very stiff cardboard I’d cut up for a project long ago and decided to use them to create tiny paintings that could be grouped together.

They’re okay, though the brilliance of the pink just doesn’t come through… I don’t have that colour in my palette. And flowers really aren’t my thing. Still, they’re sort of fun and cheerful. In a small frame, they’ll probably brighten up someone’s kitchen or hallway.

I think I’ll try something different next. In the fauna category rather the flora one. Or maybe food. I like food…

Now I gotta find a frame to put them in… hm… I’ll have a look online otherwise I’ll have to make something myself. When the weather is better. I’ll get blown away out there right now. Its already knocked over plants I tidied up yesterday.

z

march 12. a month of daily art.

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Yeah, yeah. Too much socializing is bad for this daily art thing.

Today I had a great day. I spent all morning, a gloriously sunny morning, doing what passes as yard/garden work in my tiny little place which has no dirt, just pots.

I trimmed off dead bits on plants, moved plants to different spots so I could clean behind them, and killed a ton of snails which have been chewing on my plants and am now facing being doomed to the fires of hell for all eternity. I did manage to save a whole lot of earthworms, however, by relocating them so hopefully managed to balance my karma somewhat.

I gathered three big rubbish bags of pine needles, dried up olives and other debris which falls onto my patio and tiny courtyard from surrounding trees. And I took a few cuttings off a fig tree on the hill behind me which has amazing figs… I hope at least one of them takes.

Then I went for a drive around Paros with my cousin Katerina and visted a few beaches she’s never been to, walked Lainee on the sand, and ended up in Alyki for lunch. Alyki is/was a fishing village so is famous for its tavernas and sea food. Everyone was there today. Every single person who lives on Paros was there for lunch. Not a table to be had at the ‘better known’ tavernas, but we ended up having a very nice meal in a quiet little place at the end of the road.

So, a lovely,, though pretty much unproductive, day.

My cousin has asked me to make her a stone with an ‘eye’ for her reception desk at her studio apartments. When I got home I sat down and made three so she’d have a choice. I’m sharing two of them. (I dropped the other one and smeared it and I have to start over. Ugh.)

These are both stylized ‘eyes’ to basically ward off the ‘evil eye’… something a lot of Greeks believe in.

The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when one is unaware. The evil eye dates back about 5,000 years. It is found in many cultures in the Mediterranean region as well as Western Asia and Central Asia with such cultures often believing that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury… The idea expressed by the term causes many different cultures to pursue protective measures against it, with around 40% of the world’s population believing in the evil eye… The Greek evil eye talisman specifically protects against malevolent gazes.

So, aren’t you glad I did something borderline arty today? You may have learned something new!

I really have to stop galivanting and get myself back to working! I’m having withdrawals…

z

march 11. a month of daily art.

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Playing with some watercolours today, still finding my feet after being in Athens for so long.

It’s always like this. I come home and I spend the first few days unable to do anything. Sure, this time round I’ve been much more social than on previous returns, but between going out to meet friends or groom dogs, I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have to do around the house.

UGH.

I’ve washed some clothes but still haven’t unpacked my suitcase… only removed items I needed in order to live. Talk about lazy!

Oh, I did manage to do some shopping. I needed to do that cause the fridge was totally empty.

And walked Lainee on the beach.

I need to get back into my own mode, ya know? All this time in Athens I’d sort of gotten into an ‘Athens routine’ I need to unlearn. Soon as I get back into ‘home mode’ I’ll have to go back to Athens again…

z

march 10. a month of daily art.

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Another day, another door.

I saw something on FB the other day – it said ‘when a door closes, open it again. That’s how doors work’.

Funny.

Not sure why doors and windows are so interesting to me or anyone… maybe cause they supposedly hold secrets behind them, or oppportunities, or memories, who knows. I’m sure that if I put my mind to it I could write a whole essay on the symbolism of doors and windows. Closed ones. Blank ones.

But for now, they are just gorgeously old crooked and chippy doors and windows in delapidated or abandoned old buildings.

So here is today’s painting. This time I’ve added a cat, ’cause cats are everywhere in Greece.

People now feed them more than they kick them, so although you see tons of cats, few of them are of the scaredy cat variety who run from humans. A lot of them are friendly, some are timid and elusive, but most of them are no longer terrified of humans. And most of them are no longer so skinny.

The main problem is that a lot of people are still against neutering in Greece. They think its ‘unnatural’… they would prefer to see the island over-run by starving and dying cats than to neuter them. And somehow, it seems that to a lot of the older generation of greeks (and I’m sure, plenty of younger redneck types) its much more ‘natural’ to deal with unwanted kittens and puppies by tossing them in the sea, or dumping them in rubbish bins.

Whatever.

Don’t get me started on that.

Better to look at pretty doors.

z

march 9. a month of daily art.

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On my way to Paros right now so I’m sharing something I did yesterday… cheating, since I really don’t think I’ll be in the mood to do any painting or sketching today.

I didn’t sleep much last night so I’m tired and I’m going to quiz night tonight… so other than unpacking and being HOME, I don’t think I’ll do much today.

I love quiz night. I’m hopeless at it, but I love it nonetheless.

In fact, I love games that can be played in teams. Trivial pursuit, pictionary… I love getting together with friends and playing games. Not that I do it much. I had started doing a bit of it before I left Tasmania, but ended up giving away or selling all my games before coming to Greece. Probably a stupid thing to do, cause I have a lot of english speaking friends on Paros, but at the time I thought it would be hard to find people to play with.

Oh well. Live and learn.

Still, it’ll be nice to see my friends again. And to walk on the beach.

I’m too brain dead to write much right now and we’ve only been travelling for an hour. Three more to go…

z

march 8. a month of daily art.

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Another day, another small painting. I think I mentioned, these are done on offcuts of matboard which would otherwise have gone to waste… so I’m still recycling. Perhaps not as much as when I work on old canvases or broken marble or wood offcuts, but still recycling and making use of unwanted things!

I’m going back home tomorrow so I’m packing and making lists so I don’t forget anything. Had a brief panic ’cause I couldn’t find my keys, but found them! phew. They were in the first place I looked, and the last place… Because I looked in my bag first, didn’t find them, searched everywhere else I could think of, then rechecked my bag and there they were.

D’oh!

I’ve got some cuttings from plants from my aunt’s garden to take home and pot tomorrow and mom made a cheese pie which she will pack for me to take with, so I have something to eat on the ferry and dinner for tomorrow night. Gotta love moms! Of course that means I’ll have a huge suitcase of stuff to take back with me, my handbag, Lainee’s crate and a bag with the cuttings, cheese pie, water and all the last minute stuff I want to toss into it. Talk about travelling light. Never happens.

z

march 7. a month of daily art.

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I’m loving these small acrylics. I’m on a roll!

That’s how I am – I start something new and I get all excited and I go like crazy for a while. Then something happens and I get bored, or busy, or lazy and the roll ends. And when I get the urge to create again, its onto something else.

That’s why I do so many different things. Cause I can’t settle on one thing. Its think it makes me interesting but not successful.

I think successful artists are the ones who focus on something that interests them or they’re good at, and they plug away and work hard and promote their work, yada yada.

Me, I create cause I love to create… whether its painting dog portraits (which incidentally, I get paid for!), I paint on rocks or marble cause I enjoy it and sell some here and there, I sew things when I get the sewing bug cause I enjoy it, I remake dolls cause I enjoy playing with dolls, I remake furniture cause I love it…

See the thread here? I do things I enjoy. And if people want to buy them, great.

Not a reliable way to make a living really.

In other news, Lainee had her ultasound today and she’s fine. She has some problem with a valve in her heart, which we knew, but that he doesn’t think its gotten any worse and that, in his opinion, she doesn’t need medication for it… she’s been on medication for her heart for about 3 years. And she has an issue with her gall bladder – sand or something – it may or may not get worse and may or may not cause problems for her in the future.

So all is right with the world now she’s feeling better. Complete with an extremely smooth belly and a couple of bald spots on her chest.

And the whole thing only cost about 200 euros.

ha.

My girl is well and that’s all that matters.

z

march 6. a month of daily art.

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I’m back to acrylics and loving it!

My friend Antigone, who owns a framing shop, gave me small pieces of matboard to paint on, all cut to approximately 4in x 8in. Nice and stiff, with a slightly ribbed texture, they’re ideal for small paintings, almost miniatures.

I gotta say, working small suits me, though I enjoy working large as well. I’ve mostly always worked large, preferring A3 and up in size, since I use pastels and charcoal, ’cause I can use my entire arm to create my marks.

The tactile element has always been a big thing for me, going back to my printmaking days where I learned to use the ball of my hand and french chalk to wipe my plates, not like the kids at art school who used pages from phone directories… philestines…

Then of course, working with pastel means I not only use my hand/arm to draw, but my fingers and hand to smudge and blend.

I love ‘feeling’ my work. I’m even doing it with acrylics now, using my hand and sponges on the larger canvases, my fingertips on the small paintings.

Working small is what I do with the marbles and rocks I paint. They are a totally different ballpark of course, they don’t absorb paint, I put it on and let it dry before adding another layer of colour. With the acrylic, it dries fast so I layer it more than blend. I have bought a slow drying medium which I won’t try till I get to my own studio (ie my kitchen/living room)… I’m used to living amongs my art… my mother isn’t!

z

march 5. a month of daily art.

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Another quick sketch using tea plus red wine. Turns out the red wine is a huge disappointment. Nothing red about it… just a stain. Not a particularly good one either, I admit I was hoping for something redder.

So its back to pencils, tea and the new acrylics. I ended up buying a box of 36 small 20ml tubes cause that way I have all the colours to play with, and when I run out I can always buy what I need. This set is to keep for use in Athens, since it looks like I’ll be here quite a while this year.

I have tons of paints on Paros, but of course, you always need more paint… especially favourite colours. But I work bigger on Paros than I do here, so the mini tubes are fine for here.

I really hate having two homes. You sort of need two of everything if you live in more than one place. Sure, my HOME is on Paros, but since mom lives in Athens I’ll always be here for some time in winter to be with her… not to mention the constant renovation projects I seem to attract.

So, till I go back to Paros, hopefully by the end of this week, I’ll continue working on smaller works for my daily art. Bigger ones are more like weekly art than daily. Sometimes monthly…

z