July 2017 – Letters from Athens

And it’s done

July 31st – the month is over, and so is the watercolor challenge. I’m happy to say I managed it, but then I tend to draw or paint most days anyway. There are many more art challenges to be had on the web – drawing 100 people in a week, or new prompts on Doodlewash for August – but I think I’ll give it a rest for now. At least until Inktober (making an ink drawing every day in October). We shall see.
Meanwhile, here is my output for the last week of July, much of which was taken up with my floral triptych.

Day 24

Started adding background to my floral paintings.

Day 25

Fruit and veggies on the kitchen table – three green tomatoes, a nectarine, two apricots and a pear. I drew these in a Moleskin journal which has glossy pages that reject watercolor, which made for interesting effects. You can see the paint pooling on top of the paper instead of sinking in.

Day 26

Having picked this red cabbage in the garden, I was fascinated by the shape of the outer leaves curling around the central globe, and the subtle colors going from purple to blueish green. I made a quick sketch – on khadi paper this time, which absorbs color beautifully. Not very pleased with the result, but unfortunately I couldn’t start over, since it was time to cut it up for the salad!

Day 27

Artist Caroline Magerl posted a picture of her westie on Instagram. I loved the shape she made from the back, so I used her for today’s sketch. Looking at the photo, I now think the background needs to be darker.

Day 28

Today I felt like drawing a figure, and I came upon some origami paper, so I added collage. This is a small sketch in my khadi journal.

Day 29

I’m hard at work on my triptych, so no time for anything else today.

Day 30

Today’s garden harvest: courgettes, some whiskery leeks, a couple of small and barely ripe tomatoes and a lone strawberry (actually there were a couple more, but I ate them). All begging to be painted.

Day 31

I think my floral triptych is finished. Here it is, propped up on the kitchen counter, since I don’t have an empty wall big enough. I’ll contemplate it for a day or two, in case I feel like making any changes, then I’ll pack it of to its new owners.

And that nicely concludes the challenge. New bird painting planned next.

Three weeks down, one to go

Here’s my progress with World Watercolor Month:

Day 16: Drawing people is not my strong point, and World Watercolor Month is all about trying new things, so I thought I’d challenge myself. I love Francesco Clemente’s watercolor portraits, and I used those as my inspiration. Still a long way to go…(sigh…). But they were fun to do, and I’ll definitely repeat the exercise.

Day 17: Everything possible went wrong with this drawing of a starfish – the masking fluid wouldn’t dry, the masking tape ripped the top layer of the paper off… I think it was all due to the heat. However, I still enjoyed playing with the stencils.

Day 18: Very busy day, and I got back late, so I only had time to doodle these little blue flowers.

Day 19: More people drawing practice – this time inspired by a photo I took on my visit to Metsovo.

Day 20: Found time to start my new project, a floral triptych. I’ve been doing studies for this since the spring, when the irises were blooming in the garden. I find it really makes a difference to draw things from life, rather than from a photograph. It’s easier to distill the essence of your subject, rather than just its image.

Day 21: I’m now obsessed with this project , so just carrying on. I’m using Canson Watercolor paper, very thick (640msg). I’ve never used this before, and I find it very interesting. It absorbs the color, and leaves it very vivid. Good for wet-in-wet, but also for a hard edge, although the surface is very rough. The back of the paper is smooth, so maybe I’ll try that next time.

Day 22: Started on the leaves. I got interesting effects from lifting the paint with a paper towel, although it won’t lift with a rag. Still playing about, not sure what I’ll leave in and what I’ll paint over.

Day 23: This ‘week’ has eight days, since there are another eight to the end of the month. Here’s the next step to my painting.

I wonder if it’s cheating to post consecutive images of the same drawing? Who knows, and, more importantly, who cares?

Trying to keep up

Well, it’s been a busy week, but I was determined not to fall behind on the World Watercolor Month challenge, so I mostly resorted to quick sketches at bedtime.

Day 8: Seagulls. I seem to be inspired by birds lately, and it is the summer and beach weather. After making a quick and splashy background, I drew the seagulls in ink and added oil pastel for highlights.

Day 9: Mother and child. I have to force myself to draw people (not my strongest point, so I need the practice). I had a little more time tonigh, and I found an appealing photo as a reference – it would have been better drawn from life, but no models available (sigh…)

Day 10: Garden produce. I’d gone out to pick some lettuce, onions and cauliflower, so I just dumped them on the kitchen table (I used a tea towel not to get dirt onto the table, and that proved quite a useful addition to the sketch!)

Day 11: Three bowls of fruit and a tomato. I do love summer fruit. These are peaches, yellow cherries and red currants. What could have been more inspiring than to make a sketch of them in a large Moleskine journal.

Day 12: Roses. Really no time tonight, so I just sloshed some paint around and doodled on top. It was a good way to test some new Daniel Smith watercolors, too (Quinacridone Rose, New Gamboge and Deep Sap Green).

Meanwhile, I’ve been putting the finishing touches on my bird project, ‘Sandhill Cranes In Flight’. This is watercolor, oil crayon and gold leaf on two large sheets of Arches paper (100x60cm). It has now been packed off to the recipient, who I hope will be happy with it. I’m a rotten photographer, only use my iPhone and couldn’t get the light right, but you get the idea (I blue-tacked it to the wall to take the picture, but the left side was in shadow).

Day 13: Three-panel study of floral painting. This is my new project, so I started making some studies to help me decide how to proceed. It will be based on plein air sketches of irises, tulips and hyacinths I made when they were in flower in the garden. Always gives a better result than painting from photos.

Day 14: Six-panel study. Another version, using six pieces of paper instead of three. I probable prefer the first one.

Day 15: Chickens. Really got back late today, so when I came upon a piece of paper on which I’d been testing color mixes and some flower stencils, I just added a rooster and a hen on top.

That’s the week done, phew!

New Q&A – the writer

I love crime fiction – so when I came upon Eftichia Giannaki‘s books, I felt I’d stumbled onto a treasure trove. They’re very atmospheric, with three-dimensional characters, and a hero who is just troubled enough while being likeable.

Eftichia is a rising star on the Athens literary scene. Her first book, On the Back Seat, a crime novel featuring an interesting cast of characters, is a page-turner set in the Athens of today, a city beset by the crisis. It won the PUBLIC prize for Best Greek Novel of 2017, and the second book in the proposed trilogy, Halcyon Days, has just been published. She has also written a previous book, Hardcore, under a pseudonym, which has been made into a film. Two of her plays have been staged in the Greek theatre.

Tell us a little about yourself

I was born and live in Athens, where I write crime novels and theatre scripts. My first two books, On the Back Seat and Halcyon Days, are both published by IKAROS publishers and are part of the Athens Trilogy featuring Superintendent Haris Kokkinos. One can understand a lot about me and my relationship to the city and its inhabitants by reading my books, which are all set in Athens.

What were the major difficulties you’ve faced in the last five years?

The most serious difficulties are connected to matters of plot, seeing as I pose my readers the problems and questions that concern me in the first place. The social commentary I attempt and the deeper psychological analysis of my heroes unveil the difficulties and problems I have faced over the last few years.

Did anyone in particular inspire you or help you?

I’m inspired and helped by the people who live around me.

What are your hopes/plans for the future?

My hope is to have good health so that I can continue to make plans.

What are your hopes for Greece? What changes do you hope to see happen?

My wish is for the country to acquire a plan so that it can aspire to better days.

Have you considered leaving? If so, where would you like to go, and why?

I considered it seriously three years ago, because many people close to me are now living abroad. But when I decided to dedicate myself to my great passion, which is writing, I stopped thinking about it.

If you have already decided to leave what would make you stay?

If I decided to leave, I don’t think I’d change my mind. Usually I think things through before deciding.

Are you actively doing anything to help with the situation? Is there something you would like to do?

I think of writing as my positive contribution to the situation. There’s always more to be done, but it has to be achieved first, before being discussed.

How do you see Greece in 5, 10 years?

I can’t see that far.

How do you cope with obstacles and frustrations in your everyday life ?

With optimism. I see obstacles as a challenge, otherwise probably I would not be writing crime fiction

What are the positive sides of living in Greece? Have you had any good experiences lately?

The people, the people, and, again, the people. As are people in every country. In every difficulty it’s always solidarity which touches me and thankfully there is a lot of that surrounding us.

Read more about Eftichia on her site, here (in Greek).

(The translation of the book titles is my own.)

Ode to A Market

Who doesn’t love a market? Debi has taken some fabulous photos of her local Greek “laiki”, which I am re-blogging for your enjoyment.

An Evolving Life

No poetry could do my local market – laiki – justice, or at least the kind of poetry that I might come up with. That said, I am sure that many others who are gifted wordsmiths could create a beautiful ode. In fact, Michael Llwellyn-Smith, in his 2004 travel book Athens, in Signal Book’s ‘Imagined Cities’ series, has eloquently described (albeit in prose) our Friday laiki:

It is one of the most vivid displays of everyday life in the city, with its regularity, the personal encounters with neighbours, the cheerful noise of the vendors crying their wares, the quiet purpose of the shoppers stocking their trolleys and baskets.

What I can offer is a photo essay from images I’ve taken in the market over the past year. The great majority of the photographs I have taken record the seasonal produce, but every once in a while, people catch…

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July is World Watercolor Month

For those who did not read my post last year, World Watercolor Month is the brainchild of Charlie O’Shields of Doodlewash fame. It’s a challenge designed to encourage anyone who joins in to post a watercolor painting each day of the month of July. It’s a fun thing, with very relaxed rules – there are no prizes, or obligation to post each day.

Day 1: Bunnies – Present for a child’s christening (part 1)

We do have a list of prompts, but nobody’s obliged to follow it, they’re only meant to help people with inspiration. The idea is to bring together artists of all levels, from all parts of the world.

Day 2: Ducks – present for a child’s christening (part 2)

WWM started in 2016 and proved a great success, prompting Charlie to greater efforts this year. The project, which has attracted sponsorship from various well-known art supply brands, has also teamed up with The Dreaming Zebra, a non-profit foundation that provides underprivileged schoolchildren throughout the world with art and music supplies.

Day 3: Mountain village – the view from the window. Quick evening plein air sketch.

I joined in last year, and the results were beyond my expectations. It got me into the habit of drawing or painting every day, which I’ve kept up since. It made me open an Instagram account, and inspired me to follow many artists from whom I’ve learnt so much. I’m self-taught, so the encouragement, tips, comments, ideas and support I’ve been getting have proven invaluable. I’ve met new people, improved my technique and, most of all, had so much fun. I’ve now started getting commissions, and am even thinking of opening an Etsy shop.

I’m so grateful to Charlie, who has shown that you don’t need more than enthusiasm, new ideas and a lot of TLC to make a real difference. His site, Doodlewash, hosts watercolor artists from all over the world (I was extremely proud to be included, here) and every Saturday there is a post where artist Jessica Seacrest reviews art supplies that she has tested. We’re talking types of paper, brushes, paints – very addictive, although bad for the wallet! And, of course, Charlie never fails to post his own daily doodlewash, with an amusing story to accompany it.

Day 5: Starfish. Watercolor and oil crayon over comic strip glued in tiny sketchbook.

I’m getting stuck in again this year, even if some days it will mean just splashing some paint around for a few minutes. I will post my output at the end of each week, and you can tell me what you think. What you see today is this week’s output.

Day 6: Summer fields. Mini landscape in tiny sketchbook.

I urge any of you with a creative streak to join in. You can jump in at any time, post as little or as much as you like. Just tag your work #WorldWatercolorMonth

A mountain town shaded by ancient trees

Metsovo is a beautiful town in northern Greece, perched in the Pindos Mountains, 1000m above sea level. Its traditional houses, stone-built and adorned with tile roofs and wooden porches, are built in a natural amphitheater and nestle between tall trees. It was a good destination for escaping the heatwave and piles of rubbish in Athens.

The central square is kept cool by the refreshing shade of ancient plane trees.

Metsovo owes a lot to two benefactors: Michael Tossizza, a wealthy and eccentric man who left his fortune to the town, and Evangelos Averoff, a prominent politician and Prime Minister of modern Greece, whose friendship with the former and passion for the town, resulted in the establishment of the Tossizza foundation.

Village elders take the air on the square

The BARON MICHAEL TOSSIZZA FOUNDATION was founded in 1947 with the aim of maintaining Metsovo’s cultural heritage and sustaining its economic growth.
The foundation implemented many projects, building schools and roads, a hospital and a ski resort; renovating and maintaining traditional buildings, churches and monasteries, planting trees, and creating student housing in Athens for students from Northern Greece. It established a timber factory, and a cheese factory (today Metsovo cheeses such as Metsovone, a type of provolone, are famous in Greece and one of the must-buy products for visitors). There is a Folk Art Museum and the Katogi Averoff Wine Factory, which also houses a hotel.

There was a wedding going on, and it was fun to watch the traditional procession through town. There was much playing of music, and stopping for impromptu dancing.