Category: COMMENTARY

Dear reader

Dear reader,

After a surge of posts at the end of last year, things seem to have gone quiet. Or rather, I’ve been both very busy and a little uninspired. I see now I only managed a single post in January – horrors! So let me hasten to reassure you, I have not died or gone away.

 

 

However, I do find myself at some kind of crossroads with this blog. It’s difficult to write about Greece at the moment – things are no better, and do people want to keep reading about the refugees, the hopeless politicians and the unending financial crisis? I feel I’ve also covered the various traditions, feasts, etc – this is not supposed to be a travel guide, after all. Interviews seem to have dried up, a couple of people never having come up with the goods.

 

 

When I come across something amusing or worthwhile, or think of someone fun to interview, or have time for a road trip, or visit an art show, inspiration is easy. However, this does not make for regular output – on the other hand, I don’t want this blog to turn into a kind of homework, there’s no point to that.
So, suggestions are welcome. What would like to read about? Any special interests, more interviews, more art, less art?

 

 

Meanwhile, I am planning a trip next weekend, to visit a facility for people with special needs, in the beautiful seaside town of Galaxidi. The Estia Agios Nikolaos is a unique place, the beloved project of a good friend of mine, where people live in a family-style environment and are allowed to thrive at their own pace. They are having their vasilopitta, the Greek tradition of cutting a special cake each New Year. So there is a post to be written soon, which I feel sure will be interesting.

 

 

The photographs are of a series I’m working on at the moment, Feathers. They are small paintings, which will make up to a larger installation, and at the same time I’m using them to experiment with different techniques in mixed media. As well as working with watercolor, collage and gold leaf, I’m  also layering pieces of newspaper and silver foil with paint and crumpled tissue paper in various combinations. Sometimes I draw or paint over the top, sometimes I gouge bits out with a cutter. It’s really fun to do, and I’m hoping to use these techniques on larger pieces eventually.

 

Don’t forget to comment and egg me on with your suggestions!

Best wishes and a super moon

Stepping  outside at night on January first and seeing a huge moon shining behind the clouds felt like a good sign – an omen of a great year ahead?

 

 

Best wishes to all of you who have been reading my ramblings all year.
But so as not to be too complacent, I will share a cartoon frrom the New Yorker that someone sent me.

 

Season’s wishes

Athens has put on its glad rags as a general effort is being made to celebrate the holidays.

SYNTAGMA (Constitution Square) decorated and lit up for Christmas. Photo: tornosnews.gr. Source:Google.

 

There is a lot going on, despite the continuing problems, which remain huge. Art shows, music, dance, parties – and people just walking the streets, enjoying the season. Athens remains one of the popular destinations for the winter holidays.

As always one must spare a thought (and perhaps a little money) for the people whose finances or personal circumstances make the holiday more of a worry than fun. Also the homeless and the refugees, who are spending another winter without heating or running water.

However, I would like to end this post on a positive note, and send my best wishes to all of you out there, who have been following and commenting all this time. I really appreciate your friendship (even when virtual!) and hope you will enjoy the days to come, with friends and family.

 

Christmas gift: Trying out a new toy, a Duke Confucius fountain pen – it makes the most interesting marks and is a lovely object in itself. Made from bamboo.

If any of my more recent followers are interested about Christmas celebrations in Greece, I wrote a post about it some time ago – you can find it here.

Festive Season’s Athenian Art Trek

For those of you who will be in Athens over the holidays, a roundup of artsy goings-on from a favorite blog, Art Scene Athens. Can always be relied upon to scout out what’s worth seeing.

art scene athens's avatarart scene athens

THERE ARE so many interesting art shows on in Athens at the moment that you can enjoy during the Xmas break. Here is a selection of just some of them (you will find more in ‘November’s Art Trek‘ which are also still running):

fotopoulos Work by Dimitris Mytaras

‘Themselves and Others’
The National Bank of Greece’s Cultural Foundation (MIET), will be inaugurating the show ‘Themselves and Others’ at the Eynard Mansion on Tuesday, December 12, (8pm), comprising 400 works from the collection of acclaimed set designer/stage director and artist, Dionysis Fotopoulos. (Runs till March 3).
Participating artists: Th. Apartis, D.Diamantopoulos, F. Kontoglou, Y.Bouzianis, Y. Moralis, Y. Tsarouchis, L. de Nobili, N. Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, Y. Lappas, T. Mantzavinos, Y. Mavroidis, Y. Bitsakis, Ch. Botsoglou, D. Mytaras, Th. Papagiannis, E. Sakayian, N. Stephanou, F. Fotopoulos, Y. Psychopedis.
• The National Bank of Greece’s Cultural Foundation (Eynard Mansion), is on 20 Ag. Konstantinou…

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From Camp to Campus

Last year, at a ‘creative marathon’ called Hack the Camp, aimed at finding solutions to the challenges faced by refugees in Greece, a young woman spoke passionately of her desire to continue her university education. She had been a student of Economics at a university in Damascus, but her studies had been abandoned as she fled the war. Her emotional plea was the inspiration for the program “Education Unites: From Camp to Campus”, that will provide higher education scholarships to 100 eligible refugees in Athens and 100 in Thessaloniki.

The program is a collaboration between the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Anatolia College (The American College of Thessaloniki), Deree (The American College of Greece) and Perrotis College (American Farm School).

 

 

Lucy Kanatsoulis,  Dean of Enrollment and International Students at Deree – The American College of Greece, declared: “I can think of no better title for the recently launched scholarship program organized by the U.S. EMBASSY in Athens in collaboration with the American College of Thessaloniki – Anatolia College, Deree – The American College of Greece and Perrotis College – American Farm School.

Once refugees and asylum seekers enter the classroom, they become students – like all their classmates from Greece and other parts of the world – with hope for a future filled with opportunities…Education unites all students in their quest for knowledge to achieve their goals in life. And just like that their differences fade and they are all students first.

The refugee crisis in Greece has become one of integration: Providing them with knowledge and skills which they can use either in Greece or in any other country they move to in the future to help them get out of the camps and start working, thus becoming a contributing member of society. There is hope for this program to form a blueprint to be used across many countries who are committed to offering a permanent solution to the refugee crisis, making the campus the vehicle for humanity.

As a young Syrian wrote in his application: “… the thought that I will have the opportunity to study, and do what I do best, has already put a smile on my face.”

After reviewing over 400 applications and interviewing dozens of refugees and asylum seekers, the three U.S. affiliated colleges have selected the first group of students, who have now begun their academic studies.

 

 

Classes have started for the young Afghan man who dreams of becoming a pilot; the young lady from Pakistan who wants to become an electrical engineer; the Syrian law student from Aleppo who left her studies unfinished, and the Syrian man who wants to pursue economic and entrepreneurship studies – as well as dozens of other young students who can now aspire to a professional career, a better future, and the possibility of making an essential contribution to any community where they settle.

During the first week of October, seventy eight young refugees started their academic studies at Deree, and in November they celebrated at their college with an emotional Thanksgiving party.

 

 

 

Note: You’ve already met Lucy – she did the Monthly Interview in August 2016.

Scent of geraniums

I wanted to share this delightful short film, Scent of Geraniums, which is about being a homesick student in a foreign land. A lot of Greeks will identify with this, since the situation in Greek education forces many of them to study abroad – sometimes starting with very limited knowledge of the language they will have to deal with. And people of other nationalities, of course.

The film was made by Naghmeh Farzaneh, an independent Iranian filmmaker and animator based in Chicago. It has won multiple awards.

 

 

Nagmeh’s work is reminiscent of another Iranian artist, Marjane Satrapi, and her wonderful graphic novel, Persepolis, which has been made into an animated full length movie. I urge you all to check it out, even if you a not a comics fan. It’s original and very special.  Just read the reviews.

 

 

I discovered Scent of Geraniums on the blog The Slippery Edge, it is not unfortunately a WordPress site so I hadn’t the faintest idea how to repost it. Take a look at the blog, however, it has lots of interesting stuff and, on this post, there is more information about the film and its maker.

 

Naghmeh Farzaneh. Source:Google

Inktober

I have not managed to post a lot these last few months –  I’ve been super busy with various things, one of which has been finishing a large parrot diptych which was a wedding present for my niece (and goddaughter) – who got married a whole year ago! Shame on me…


Also I could not resist joining in the Inktober challenge, which consists in posting one ink drawing per day, for the whole month of October. There is a list of prompts available  for anyone who wants to use them, such as ‘swift’, ‘long’, ‘mysterious’, etc. I was so rushed, I couldn’t be bothered, but then I slightly regretted it – it was so fun seeing the wildly different interpretations people put on the same word. A couple of people even wrote a haiku or limerick to accompany their drawing each day. I wish I could share some of them here, but I have no clue whatsoever on how to link to Instagram.

 

A grumpy owl

 

The point about these challenges is that there are few rules, no obligation to keep up every day, and no prizes. People do it for the fun, just like a writing challenge, and the pleasure consists in the making, and in seeing what others have made, and commenting when one is so inclined. The #inktober2017 hashtag on IG allows you to find these drawings, if anyone is so inclined.  Many are wonderful – it is amazing what some people can do using nothing but a cheap ballpoint pen.

Below is my own, rather pathetic, attempt.

Sisters – ballpoint and watercolor

 

Some nights I only really managed a scribble.

Two scruffy dogs

 

I had planned to use the challenge to push myself in perfecting my technique with ink, which is not my strongest point. I was going to watch some YouTube courses, and practice with various mediums, such as wash, dip pens and ballpoint. Sadly, my lack of time meant that I usually ended up making a quick doodle before bedtime. However, I still had fun (mostly looking at other people’s stuff!)

One day I followed the prompt, which was ‘poison’.

 

Another, I was inspired by some  pomegranates I had picked.

Bad light, so not a good photo…

 

And one night when I had more time, I went back to my Greek roots.

The goddess Athena

 

I added some gold to pep this little fellow up.

 

Sheep always make you sleep better!

 

As does whale song.

 

Today is the last day, so I made a special effort. These bats were surprisingly difficult to draw upside down (I forced myself not to turn the paper around), and I tried to concentrate on tone and negative spaces. Amazing how bats remind you of vampires, as well as mummies, isn’t it? They were inspired by a wonderful photo by the award-winning wildlife photographer Pedro Jarque Krebs.

 

Ok, ok, I know they’re spooky, but it is Halloween, and I’ve  made a pumpkin already!

Ink and collage pumpkin