Greek Isles Inspirations
Rituals, performance art, theatre. Call it what you will. Last night party. Aphrodite (my persona) and birthday girl in paper crown by artist Julie Paschkis. Wearing one of my art dresses and necklaces.
The Voyage (AKA ODDS AT SEA)
Pure decadence. Perfect water temps. Clear to the bottom of the calm turquoise waters. Sailing in our Turkish galettes around the Cyclades with friends and artists. Two weeks of heaven on earth. Thanks to dear, generous friends.
The Cyclades islands we visited include Delos (one of my favorites, where the site of an ancient bustling city remains relatively intact), Patmos, Paros, Naxos, Mykanos, some tiny islands with swimming bays, and Santorini. Museums, archeological sites, family-owned wineries, workshops, monasteries, restaurants, views, villages, cats, dogs, donkeys, goats, hillside farms and vineyards. It's all very dry like California, and so they are growing grapes, figs, pomegranates, and barley, just like in ancient times. With our Turkish boats and crew we also visited Bodrum, Turkey. We touched on Athens at the beginning and the end. What a better experience this time than when I was 17. The city is much improved and reminds me a bit of Barcelona 20 years ago. The art and nightlife scene is explosive. Tourism, turning its head away from Turkey has rediscovered Greece. I hope that's significant enough to help Greece along financially. We all love our guide, too. You can find Aydin Aygun at: Eon Tours, Turkey & Greece www.eontours.com aydin@eontours.com
Collage inspired by hanging octopus by the water. September 2017
On this rare occasion looking out over our boat at passing islands, I was reminded of home, The Bay Area and our lovely, although sometimes oppressive misty fog.
Panoramic vista of a ruin. Miles of ancient cities.
Two beautiful curved shapes. Reference for upcoming ceramics projects.
Symbols in earliest languages, some charming, some hard to understand.
I don't recall seeing much ancient sculpture with simple, perfect, naked crossed legs.
Glass shards for recycling found under the sea in a shipwreck. This museum has loads of shipwreck finds and shipwreck reconstructions. Bodrum, Turkey
A wall that needs to become a painting. I grew up in an era of paintings that were inspired by walls. That'll be another blog post - inspirations. Bodrum, Turkey.
Cast glass set in a decorative and functional gate guarding a black and white striped marble side walk.
An adorable hedgehog (2700 BC), I think, holding his food bowl. The cutest non-toy functional art I saw.
My current screen saver. It has some of everything in it including a pomegranate.
Striking sunset views atop Santorini after riding the cable car/incline to get there. Others took a mule ride.
Lots of statements made in the Athens graffiti. In English too!
Another interesting statement made graphically in Athens.