I’ve begun working on a series of paintings for the exhibition I am planning next summer. I thought I’d share the first one to whet your appetite.
This is the painting which gave me the inspiration for the series. I love old buildings, the falling down, crumbling walls, the rotting wood, the paint chipped doors and windows. The whole abandoned feel of them. It’s something I photograph every time I walk the small streets of the islands (or Athens, to be honest).
I’ve always been drawn to the juxtaposition of the old and the new in its ugly forms – beautiful decaying buildings for instance, with modern day graffiti on them is one of my favourites.
Or, as in this case, the beautiful patina of the old door and cracked walls with the discarded cola can and cigarette butt.
In an experimental mood, I added a little silver foil to the tin can make it stand out a little more. Not the neatest job, but its rubbish anyway, right?
I love this piece and hope others do too. I’m excited about this series of paintings that show the beauty of days gone by against the ugliness of today – the effects of too many people and not enough care about the beautiful places we live in.
And, as usual, this is painted on a recycled canvas.
Another commission to share today, one which took me forever to do. I mean, I started them fine, back before summer… but then it was summer. Busy with grooming and mom being sick and visitors and all sorts of busy summer things.
Up to that point I had only done the structure of them, ie cardboard, masking tape and wire so I needed to move onto the clay or papier mâché part. Since the buyer didn’t want these finished in fabric, I decided to use air dry clay for the whole thing.
And I’m glad I did cause I love the way they turned out.
Given the brief for these guys was ‘something easy to dust’ I opted to spray them with white gloss paint, something I’d never done before as a finish for my work. But I’m really happy with the result.
Thought I’d share a quickie work I framed the other day. I say ‘quickie’ even though it was weeks in the making… mainly cause I had no idea what I was going to do.
Firstly, I glued an old, yellowed book page from a stack of throw away books I’d collected to a sheet of cartridge paper to create a background to work on like I did here, then I left it for ages, sitting on the kitchen table among the hundreds of things I was going to get to ‘soon’…
While working on one of my large paintings I decided to experiment with the texture building paste I’d bought, so I mixed up some paint and applied it to the paper, thinking I would do a small painting of a wall and stairs. I let it dry and as I looked at it, I felt totally uninspired to continue, so I let it sit and think about its sins a little longer.
Thing was, the more I looked at it. the more I liked the simplicity of the colours on the background and didn’t want to make it into anything other than a background.
Sometime during that period, I saw a FB post about a guy who created art by doing backgrounds then whacking paint covered sticks and branches onto his canvases. Hm… This was only small so I couldn’t go whacking the hell out of it… but I could try pressing something onto it… that might work.
And that’s what I did. Since it was a neutral background, I wanted to do something to bring it to life. I had some of those fuzzy dried flower arrangement things from other projects, so I chose my colours, et viola!
I used the same ‘flower’ to print the image in 3 different colours and I liked it. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before, but I was pleased.
I had a small frame that fit the work, and I had flat white spray paint, so I sprayed the frame, gave it a bit of rub in spots where the paint hadn’t gone on well, and there it is.
At this point comes the warning/disclaimer. When doing spray painting at home, don’t pull the cap off the spray paint with a vice grip and the determination of a fat man going after the last chip at the family dinner table. I pulled it off (they do like to make them almost impossible to pull off!) and pulled off the spray nozzle at the same time. Putting the nozzle back on caused all kinds of grief as you can see.
But hey, it’s pretty normal for me to have paint all over my hands, my clothes, my shoes… no one expects anything less.
You might notice a bandage on one finger…? I got that while rummaging through a toolbox to find a screwdriver. Instead, I found a razor paint scraper (the kind you use on glass) without its protective cover.
This is one dog I especially loved doing. He belongs to a friend of mine and he’s a beautiful boy with a lovely personality and serious ball addiction.
He’s some kind of terrier mix with huge ears and a crazy coat.
Here is a close up of his face and those massive ears.
And a little 3D visual.
So, how did I achieve that coat you ask? Well, I thought the best thing for it would be to use gauze. I raided my medicine cabinet and took out some gauze which I dyed by soaking in coloured water: the black was diluted acrylic paint, and the tan was… you guesed it! Black tea!
I then cut up the gauze strips into sections and laid them over the figure in a way that matched Dizzy’s colouring and the direction of the coat.
I then brushed the gauze to loosen it up and give it a more ‘hairy’ appearance.
It worked out pretty well even if do say so myself.
Mind you, the coat is not soft and flowing. I had to fix him with PVA glue to make sure he stayed intact, but he’s a sculpture, not a toy, so I figure that doesn’t matter.
The friend that commissioned him asked about his eyes. I don’t do eyes on my dogs. I’m not really sure why, they just seem better that way. Maybe its because I don’t feel I can do them justice this way, not like I can in my paintings. Maybe its cause without eyes you can project your own eyes onto them, your mind automatically fills in the blanks and imparts the emotions that you want to see in the figures.
Maybe I’m full of crap. But I’m the artist, so I have creative license. Ha.
This is one of the dogs I worked on for myself while working on a couple of commissions which I’ll share soon.
I figured that since my first two dachshunds sold quickly (here is one, the other is at the bottom of this post cause I guess I never shared him on the blog… oops), that maybe making another for my Etsy shop (or ebay? or where..?) might be a good idea.
So, Fleur was made the same way as all my other dog sculptures, using recycled cardboard, wire, DIY paper pulp, air dry clay and then covered in decoupaged napkins to make her pretty and colourful.
I thought she would look best with a purple nose, so there it is! Before selling her, I’m considering giving the nose a shine with some varnish, just to make it shine… I think that will look great.
In case you’re wondering where I disappeared to, well, I have some great excuses. One is I went through a very busy stage, working at the travel agency and grooming dogs in my free time. The other is I went through a lazy stage, preferring to live vicariously through Netflix while holding down the couch. Can’t be too safe with those tricky couches.
Then I got inspired, so I’ve been working on a few things. Firstly, finishing my commissions (a deadline sure does help get you out of a funk) then moving on to my own work. And lastly, having stopped the office work and with things quieter on the grooming front, I’ve moved on to some tool related work. Despite the cold.
At least it doesn’t rain often on Paros. Not a good thing…
Oh, and a ton of home organising, moving summer clothes up and winter clothes down and sorting a ton of stuff to give away. If it doesn’t bring joy, get rid of it – isn’t that the saying? I also say “if I haven’t worn it in ages, it has to go”. Its my way of making room for new stuff (new or 2nd hand) which I will wear.
I am a natural organiser but I never seem to get as organised as I’d like to be. I have storage solutions coming out of my nose, but am I able to find something quickly every time? Nope. Cause it’s not totally, sensibly organised into a spot where it belongs!
sigh.
So anyway, look forward to being spammed with posts over the next few days. Hopefully I can keep up the work, the inspiration and the momentum of blogging again. I mean, what else are you gonna do on those cold evenings?
And, as promised, here is a pic of the last dachshund I made and sold on Etsy. He was covered in striped vintage fabric. One of my all-time favourites.
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.
So… this is what’s been keeping me busy for the last month, and more flat-out the last 4 days.
My friend Athina and I decided that rather than just combine our skills, talents, experience and energy to do smaller creative workshops as we’ve done in the past, we would do a HUGE event/workshop combination to end all event/workshop combinations!
Ok, so, the idea began as a desire to meet other creatives on Paros, to inspire and share our skills and to raise funds for charity.
Rather than set up a lot of individual workshops we decided to combine a show/fair and mini workshops into 2 days over a weekend. All for FREE.
We invited creatives from different genres to join us and set up in a beautiful space owned by the municipality. The plan was simple – 6-7pm meet and greet the artists and check out their work. 7-9pm FREE mini workshops. Buy/donate money to charity.
We were lucky enough to obtain support from many small businesses on the island in order to arrange everything and the weekend was a huge success. Everyone had fun, people learned new things and we even raised money for our chosen charities.
Athina has been doing work with people with disabilities her whole life so her chosen charity was the Cycladic association for the blind, AROGI.
I chose to support PAWS, the Paros Animal Welfare Society, cause, you know… me and animals!
We had people who did collage, decoupage, soaps and lotions, jewelry, weaving, watercolour, mixed media, macrame, rock painting, fimo sculpture, mandalas and cookie decorating.
Here are some photos of the event!
We also had a demonstration of tap dancing and tango from people who teach on the island.
As always, Vincent was there to spread the joy…
The president of AROGI gave a short talk and shared what their association does for people with sight issues on the islands and brought in some items to give people a taste of what its like to not be able to see.
And of course we had information about PAWS and donation tins.
All in all, it was a fun weekend and a great success. We will be organising more stuff in the future, but of course, like life in any tourist destination… as summer approaches everyone becomes too busy to do anything other than work. So autumn is when we plan to start up again!
Till then I need to find a way to advertise and book my own sculpture and art workshops for visitors on the island – now that Air BnB is no longer supporting new ‘adventures’…
I will put out flyers in hotels and such, but that means people can only book on short notice (as they aren’t often here for long) and I’m often flat out grooming in summer. I need to have advance notice to organise workshops.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the word out and book small private workshops online, please let me know.
Yes, I know. I’ve gone and done another disappearing act. But as usual, I have great excuses.
I’ve been busy grooming dogs in the morning, working 5 hrs every afternoon/evening at a travel agency, and trying to get a swim, a rest and some food in between.
Unfortunately, art has gone by the wayside as is always the case… its always the first thing I sacrifice. Cause its easy to do. Jobs for money get 1st priority, then food, then rest. Even the dishes get more attention than art… as pitiful as that sounds.
This coming feom a woman who didn’t mop the floors for weeks…
So, for now I’m sharing the last 2 small pallet trays I painted. I found the trays and couldn’t resist them cause they seemed cute, and just added a few touches to make them cuter.
The first one got fish, cause, well, everything gets fish pretty much. The second got an octopus… just because.
Other than that, life is pretty much as always. The island is still full of people but its a lot quieter than last month. I yearn for winter and quiet. And time to myself, to be at home for whole days at a time where I don’t have to see anyone at all… or be anywhere.
Oh lockdown, where are you now?
Is it healthy to wish you could just be left alone to do your own thing?
I bought a tiny folding bluetooth keyboard which I’m trying out on the phone. It will take a little getting used to if I’m to use it to do stuff like this, but it sure will be handy for connecting to the TV for searches and other typing needs.
Whatever.
Hopefully I will find/make some time to do some art soon. I miss it.
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.
junk4joy 