Over the last week or so I’ve been working on some serving trays… They’re sort of a good filler project when I don’t feel like tackling something big, or when I just want to relax and paint while watching something on Netflix.
Plus, I get to do some retail therapy as well because I have to buy the trays I want to paint. I do love me some retail therapy! (In Tasmania, where I had a workshop, I would make my own trays… sigh. I miss having my own workshop…)
These are the first two of the new trays (not to be confused with the first trays I did which you can see here). They’re smaller than the first two, but not everyone wants a huge tray. I figured these can be used to serve on but also for display in the centre of a table.
Here is a closer up of the bigger one – a school of fish in a spiral. I’d once painted a marble with tiny fish flowing across it and a friend loved it. I gave it to him as a gift but thought I’d re-use the idea.
Wooden tray 40cm x 30cm, white washed, oil paint, varnish. 35 euros.
The second one is more ‘usual’ for me, being bigger fish. This time they are black, white and shades of grey. Unfortunately, the light reflection washed out the image in the photo a bit. It’s very contrasty, as it looks in the photo above.
Wooden tray 36cm x 26cm, white washed, acylic paint, varnish. 30 euros.
Now on to other work, then back to the next lot of trays… something totally different next time.
Meanwhile, it’s hot, and Greece is on fire. Literally. There are fires everywhere. I would never have thought it possible that Greece would have so many bush fires. Living in Australia you expect it every summer… but I never thought Greece would be so badly affected. It’s devastating.
And the heat continues. It feels like we didn’t get a proper summer for a long time, then it jumped from 23-degree days up to 30s plus in a week. At least that’s what it feels like. The mainland is having over 40-degree days and we are expecting to get some here too. Being by the sea, we are lucky. We can go dunk our heads in water when it gets too much. Cause even the wind is scorching hot.
Hopefully summer will be over soon enough. And with it the madness which is a Greek island during tourist season. Ugh.
This was a commission for an apartment. My friend wanted something in grey and white, not too dark, large in size, to go above the bed.
I worked on this for a while to get it right and I’m quite happy with how it turned out. Up close it has quite a bit of texture, but on this piece I only used acrylic paint, no added paper as I do for some of my art.
Here are some pics of the work in progress. You can see it changed quite a lot as I worked on it to achieve the look she wanted, starting with blocking in the basic shapes, then layering from dark to light.
Its a large piece as I mentioned, about 90cm square. On recycled canvas.
Over the last few days (lots of days) I’ve been working on some sea urchin ideas. First I finished a painting I’d started ages ago… then I made some clay fridge magnets.
Here is a closer up of the urchin painting… a mix of acrylic, watercolour and newsprint on canvas paper. As yet unframed.
And here is a closer up of the magnets. I’ll be selling these guys in sets of 3, I began by thinking I’d make them 3 of the same, then thought it might be more fun to sell them in sets of 3 different ones.
These were made by rolling out the clay and cutting the circles using a little plastic shot glass. Of course, as they dried they buckled a bit but hey… nothing in nature is perfect, right?
I added some great little magnets to the back (Neodymium magnets – the same type I used on the little fish stones I made a few years ago – you can see those holding up the paper).
I personally hate dislike weak magnets that can barely hold up a postcard, so I love these guys. Tiny but mighty.
Anyhow, the weather continues to be hot, but at least we have some wind today… The Cyclades are well known as being the ‘windy islands’, and the wind is both a blessing and a curse. On days like this it’s a blessing cause at least the air is moving around so you don’t just melt into a puddle.
The downside is that the beaches closest to me are in the face of the northern winds, which means the beaches are messy (the waves bring out seaweed and any plastic crap people throw into the sea) and rough. I don’t like rough beaches; I prefer to swim where the surface is like that of a swimming pool… spoilt rotten I am!
Still, at least the breeze going through my house means I don’t need the air-conditioning on today.
I realised I’d never posted about the apartment I’d been renovating this winter – just one in a long line of apartments I’ve had to renovate since I got to Greece. One more to go. Then I begin working on MORE houses… but that’s another story.
So, here are the photos of the place finished. The photo above is what you see when you first step in the front door.
This is what you used to see more or less, a bit more to each side – mind you, I was in the middle of packing up when I took the before photos, so its a mess.
This is the corner opposite the front door before:
And now with the bookcase gone and the floor re-finished:
(You can see the plain flat normal white door to the hallway in the above pic – replacing the old swinging doors.)
Far corner before.
Same corner after. I absolutely love the new (non-yellow) floor!!
But starting at the beginning – the entrance. It used to be a dark peachy colour which, with the red marble floor, made it very dark and gloomy. Its now bright and cheerful.
Right next to the front door as you enter, is a kitchenette. There used to be a radiator along the wall next to the front door, then a door into the kitchen. Since the place is now divided into two apartments instead of 1 large one, I put a small kitchen where the bar used to be.
This was how it was, with the bar and the door to the kitchen (yes, another swinging door, dad loved those – terrible when bringing food or drinks from the kitchen to the dining room):
This is the same area now, with the bedroom to the right:
I got rid of the bar (gave it away to anyone who would come take it, it was a big heavy, solid mahogany piece. I blocked in the awful coloured glass brick bottle shelves and put cabinets from the old kitchen in its place.
Below is a different angle on the same area now. There is room for a fridge and stove. In Greece the stove doesn’t come with the house. Most tenants have their own I was told.. Therefore, there is space for a stove.
The dining room is now a bedroom, with a wall alongside the fireplace.
This is what it was like before:
Now the dining room is a spacious bedroom with tons of wardrobe space. (Sorry, photos below are before the floors were re-finished.)
There is now a proper door to the smaller hallway. This is how that looked before. Swinging doors are so awful!
And now. A shorter hallway with a floor to ceiling cupboard:
This was the small, crowded, impractical little bathroom before. It had a door into the master bedroom far right, the shower to the left right behind the door which was so small the shower curtain would stick to you when you showered, a tiny sink to the right and barely enough space to swing a cat.
Now it feels so spacious. The door to the bedroom was closed off. The large window was replaced by a smaller PVC one and the shower now takes up the entire back wall which is so much better. The sink and space for a washing machine with cabinet above all sit on the left side, including the toilet which was moved over a bit to where there had been a bidet.
Outside there is a wrap around balcony and we put up a wall to separate the two apartments.
I don’t have the money to replace the bannisters yet, but one day I will. Something a little prettier than the Perspex which has discoloured so much over the years.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the tour. The place is rented now finally, which is one less worry on my mind.
I needed a pepper mill. I have peppercorns and no pepper. No ground pepper… So instead of buying ground pepper I thought it would be better to buy a pepper mill and use the peppercorns.
So I went looking. There were tons to choose from… but in the end I decided to try to personalise a simple wooden one I found in a local shop.
I gave it a quick light sand and began with a bit of leftover creamy white chalk paint. Then I painted circles in a stylized greek ‘evil eye’ design and finished off with some dots. Cause, why not.
Its random in its design but I think its unique and I’m happy with it.
Just one small bit of creativity finished quickly one afternoon. I’m ready to cook now.
Last Saturday was my niece Marouso’s wedding. The wedding was held at the small chirch of Agia Anna, at the top of the hill just at the end of the town of Parikia, with a glorious view of the sunset.
The reception was held at the Parasporos Beach Bar which is very close to my home. The weather was stinking hot that day and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who wished I’d brought my bathing suit with me…
The decorations were absolutely stunning. The theme was bougainvillea, a bloom that’s very greek island, and the colour chosen by the bride were fucsia, pink and gold. The beach bar is all white, set right above the beach, so the setting was gorgeous.
Bright colours are not usually my thing, but it worked so well. The bride is into more exotic colours, and it was her wedding after all!
But the reason I’m sharing this on my blog isn’t about the wedding and how pretty it all was… Its about my mom. Here she is with my aunt, the bride’s grandmother.
My mom is the third sister in her family. The older sisters are 95 and 94, mom is 90 years old. Here she is on the dance floor… The one wearing trousers.
They played a couple of Cycladic numbers, ‘balos’ its called. No matter how tired or unwell mom may be, she can never resist dancing balos. I filmed this one short video of her and the bride’s grandmother, then joined her. She’s pretty amazing, don’t you think?
I had an older video of mom dancing with a man older than her, but can’t find it… sorry.
Balos is my favourite of all greek dances. I’ve mentioned it before. Its got a jaunty rhythm and its a couple’s dance, unlike most greek dances which are either solitary (like the zembekiko) or the other ones where people dance in a line or a circle.
Balos starts at about 5 minutes into the video.
Its a pretty, flirty, courting dance where a couple dances around eachother. Such a lovely dance… that and the fiddle, no wonder I am so into rockabilly!
Yesterday I was in the sea cooling down for a total of about 3 hrs. Then I had to go out and it was not pleasant…
However it was fun. I went to see the presentation of a film made on Paros in the 40s, and see photos from before, during and after WWII. It was really interesting. You know I love old stuff!
Today I decided to stay at home as much as I can. I groomed a dog in the morning, and although its shady in my courtyard and there is a wind, it was still so HOT.
I came inside, had a coffee and got online and its already 4pm. I have no idea where the time went. I really need to set myself time limits on how long I am on the computer. Sure, it wasn’t all Facebook… I did a little research on paint pens. I created more ads for my FB Paros Dogs page and scheduled them for publication. (If you haven’t seen or liked it, please check it out, like and follow.)
OOOH. I just remembered… I have a ton of old family photos that I want to post on my FB albums… another reason to stay online!
Being dogless at the moment I’ve been able to do a bit of dog sitting, both in my home and in their own homes. Not that it was an issue with Lainee as she was so easy going and got along with all other dogs… but its so much easier when you don’t need to worry about things like that.
I’ve been a little creative as well, but this heat does my head in. I have to get off my butt and start a couple of new things I have orders for… plus two large canvases I need to finish. I will be sharing soon so stay tuned.
And… I have to update my Junk4Joy FB page – I put some stuff online for sale there and have forgotten to update it…
It never ends… Trying to sell is not an easy job if you want to keep up with all the social media. Especially if it doesn’t come naturally to you.
Yes, I did one of my famous disappearing acts again. However, I have been creating… now and then… not constantly… but trying to…
These fish were a kind of commission/inspriation. A friend wanted to buy some fish to add to her collection of ceramic fish for her wall, so I had a play with some air-dry clay and papier mâché pulp.
This is how the pulp ones started…
And this is them finished.
I love the way the little puffer fish turned out. But he’s pretty delicate… the spikes were hard to make AND keep from breaking while he dried…
I had a go at some flatter/simpler fish, made by cutting shapes out of air-dry clay. This time finishing them in a ‘different way’… ie not fish-like at all.
I decided I like the flower one best so I’ve made a few more of those. They’ll be on my FB Junk4Joy page soon. I decided against hanging them in a group so they each have their own little hook now, and they can be placed on the wall like flying ducks were placed back in the 50s…
I had a little clay left over, I made these fun little brooch fish. I mean, I had the brooch pins already, so why not?
If you see anything on my FB page or in any of the videos I share (not nearly often enough) that you’re interested in, please let me know. I do sell stuff and am happy to ship anywhere.
Life has been pretty busy. What with grooming and trying to keep up with everyone socially, swimming as often as I can manage, etc. I started water aerobics classes early morning 3 days a week and love it. I really need to force myself to get up the same time every morning and just swim. It’s so quiet at that time and usually not windy… ideal beach time for someone like me who hates the sun and the heat.
(So why live in Greece you ask? Well, it’s a long story!)
I’m still missing my little shadow (Lainee) a lot but having dogs to groom, and sometimes look after, helps… I get kisses and cuddles, so I don’t feel so ’empty’.
And I’ll soon be looking after a senior dog I groom cause his old lady mom is having health issues. I really hope she recovers quickly… and can come back to him. As much as I love him, I’m not ready for another senior dog…
Last time I was on Ios was in the early 80s. A LONG time ago.
Back then I was a punk and my boyfriend and I camped at Mylopota beach, behind the Far-Out beach bar and spent the day on the beach and nights at Chora on top of the hill, drinking and generally having fun. Back then it was THE party island, and I remember it being very busy. Then again, I think we were there in July and August which are generally busy months in Greece.
It’s still got the reputation of being a party island so is frequented by a lot of the younger crowd, but the island is changing, going more upmarket and much nicer than it was back then.
This time I took a day trip to Ios with friends, and we hired a car to explore a little more of the island. The one thing that hit us straight away was how quiet and peaceful it was. Made me think that this is a place I’d love to get away from it all and just relax for a while. Apparently their season starts at the end of June, unlike Paros which now seems to be busy from April till the end of October.
Rocks.
Ios is little more than a rock. It’s a decent size island with great roads and almost nothing on it. We hired a car and drove from one end of the island to the other, so we saw a LOT of rocks.
Big rocks.A rock wall.Just rocks. Everywhere.We were lucky enough to run into a goat traffic jam. Poor things must eat rocks.
We visited Homer’s monument/grave, whatever. The story is he was probably buried here…
It’s like the Small Wall of Ios on the way to the site.With a shady spot on the way back for the weary traveler.A marble monument marks the spot. But the beauty of the site is the view and the rock piles.
It’s a great spot, right at the top end of the island with expansive views. People have made it even more beautiful by leaving behind little rock piles. I can boast having been there and leaving 2 small piles of my own!
The biggest, welcome rock pile when you arrive.Before our visit…After our visit – this is one of my rock piles.
On the way to Homer’s monument, we had quite a surprise when we came across these 4 marble statues (or parts of marble statues). Maybe someone can explain this one to me? I can’t find any reference to what this first one is meant to be… Prudes may want to skip the next 2 images.
The Great Ass of Ios?
We felt like we had to visit the beach at Manganari, apparently the bluest clearest waters on the whole island. I don’t know about that. I still think Mylopota is the best beach. Manganari is shallower and I prefer beaches that get deep faster. But its deinitely a quieter beach. There’s almost nothing there and its so far away, I doubt many people will make the drive there!
(Ok, to be fair, we did go to Manganari from Homer… its probably a lot closer from town.)
I do know that the cost of the umbrella and 2 sunbeds at 10e blew my mind. Its been years since they were so cheap on Paros. Maybe its cause its still early in the season for Ios.
Manganari beach.Peaceful and beautiful Manganari beach.
One place we stopped at was Skarkos.
Skarkos is an early Bronze Age settlement on the island of Ios in Greece. Owing to its well preserved state, Skarkos is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the Aegean and especially the Cyclades.
My photo of the site from below.
Of course, we decided it wasn’t worth walking uphill in the sun just to see rocks when the arial photos do such a great job… At times like these you wish you had a drone!
A web image of the site from above. See what I mean?
We ran out of time so didn’t get to walk around Chora, the main town of Ios, but eh, once you’re walked the cobblestone streets of one Cycladic island, you’re pretty much seen what you’ll see. Though it would have been nice to compare Ios of the 80s with Ios of the 2020s.
The town on top of the hill.
The best place, in my opinion of course, was Mylopota. Its where my fondest memories of Ios are.It was so different from what it was in the 80s. We stopped at a great bar/restaurant to have breakfast because its where I was sure the old Far Out bar used to be. And I was right. Apparently, according to a local, the Far Out still exists but its bigger and better and further down at the other end of the beach now.
But for our little group of older, wiser, people, it was a lovely spot to sit and enjoy the view and atmosphere.
Turns out prices are comparable to Paros for food in Mylopota, but they know what CRISPY BACON is!!!
Crispy bacon is bacon that shatters when you stick a fork in it.
I love this beach. Not just for the memories or the deep water, but also because its one of my favourite beaches on a Greek island.
The clear blue waters of Mylopota beach.
Being inherently incapable of resisting blue waters, I had to swim. If I do a tour of the Greek islands, it will be to swim in as many beautiful beaches as possible.
A much busier beach lined with many bars, water sports and sun lounges.
All in all, it was a great day and I’m glad I went. Stay tuned for whatever islands we decide to visit next!
junk4joy 