Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a great new year!

5" x 7", gouache on paper

Santorini - east side of the island

23 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

meandering through the Ancient Agora

19 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

view of the Acropolis from Filopappou Hill

16 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Athens - view of Lykavittos Hill from the Anafiotika quarter

13 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Greece seemed to be ruled by cats, but the Anafiotika quarter was Cat Central.

a curated posting - photographs of Ghent

These are some photographs of Ghent, Belgium taken by my husband, using his beloved old-school Nikon.  They're from our 2009 escapade to the Low Countries. I came across them while I was scavenging for reference photographs for my painting.

time to open presents yet?

For those who celebrate this time of the year, Happy Holidays!  I still have some last-minute present-shopping to do.  But, hey, I still have time...

Athens - looking for the Acropolis, going the wrong way

This footpath did not lead to the entrance of the Acropolis; we turned around and went the other way.

11 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Santorini - blue door near Red Beach

While the husband and I were visiting Red Beach, from a parking area we saw a conspicuous door amidst the rocks on the shore.

10 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Kerameikos (two versions)

7 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

5 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Virtual Paintout submission

I just sent this off to Bill Guffey for his Virtual Paintout blog.  The Google Street View reference is here.

17 December 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

let sleeping cats lie

11 November 2010
7" x 10", gouache on paper

As you can see, I thought I'd add a picture of me on this blogsite.  It was taken by my husband during one of our recent travel adventures (my husband is always trying to catch me unawares with his steath picture-taking.  He was able to succeed - this time.  My "you're-taking-my picture" Spidey sense wasn't working for me.).

Ancient Agora - view of the Temple of Hephaestus

9 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Athens - Ancient Agora

8 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Susan Cooper's Wales

After painting the Cornwall view a couple of months ago, I surfed around the Internet in search of other locales that figure in Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising Sequence. I came across a lovely account of a visit made to Susan Cooper's Wales by David Given. As a real trip to Wales is unlikely (at least for now), I poked around Google Maps to see what I could find, based on the places he visited. Alas, many of the sites aren't accessible via Google Maps, but this one, of Craig yr Adeyrn, was; I also was able to see Tal y Llyn. Here are some painted versions. It's definitely not the same as actually visiting, but it did give me a dose of warm and fuzzy nostalgia.

14 November 2010

14" x 20", acrylic on paper

 

17 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper



15 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

I guess it's not surprising, but it was nice to discover in my Internet search that the books are still being read and enjoyed by lots of people.  I'm not the only one who read them a bazillion times during my formative years, and memorized the poems associated with the series ("When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back..." and "On the day of the dead, when the year too dies...").  I even found a recent interview of Susan Cooper on Paul Magrs' blog.

Athens - view of the Acropolis from Kerameikos (two versions)

4 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

3 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

here's looking at you

11 November 2010
7" x 10", gouache on paper

Filopappos Hill - a path not taken

3 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Ancient Agora - trees, paths, and stones

1 November 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

view from Filopappos Hill (two versions)

30 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

29 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Filopappos Hill - converging paths

28 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

Athens - heading up Filopappos Hill



27 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper



cat nap

31 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Athens - grounds of Hadrian's Library (two versions)

8 December 2010 update - Yikes!  In the original post, I erroneously identified the location as the Ancient Agora; it's really Hadrian's Library.

26 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

29 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Athens - near the base of Filopappos Hill

Athens - view of Mount Lycabettus (two versions)

We came across this view as we were heading up to the Acropolis.

22 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

1 November 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Santorini - view from Oia (two versions)

This painting is of a view from the northernmost part of the Oia, looking back at the way we had come.

18 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

This second, smaller version is actually the progenitor of the first.

16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper
gifted



Santorini - along the caldera



16 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper



cat and canned cranberry sauce

This strange, jellied substance known as cranberry sauce has been one of our family's Thanksgiving Day mainstays.  Our cat friend is dubious about its palatability.

10" x 6 1/2", gouache on paper

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day (at least in the USA).

cat and one of the last autumn leaves

8 November 2010
10" x 7", acrylic on paper





Santorini - view of Oia and the caldera

15 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper

Santorini - diverging paths (two versions)

This was one of the many spectacular views along our walk from Fira to Oia.

20 October 2010
14" x 20", acrylic on paper

This second one is a lot smaller than the first (a fourth the size, to be precise), more of a study and less thought-out as a composition, before I took the plunge and painted the larger one.

15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper



Santorini - Oia in the distance

15 October 2010
5" x 7", acrylic on paper

dozing

Not a bad idea for a chilly, rainy Friday.

16 October 2010
7" x 10", acrylic on paper

Santorini - on the walk to Oia from Fira

We still had quite a bit of a walk ahead of us.

14 October 2010
10" x 14", acrylic on paper