Monthly Studio Update - December, 2002

 

GOODBYE TO GREECE

Last Studio Update from Greece, December 2002

View from my studio in Rhodes, today, 6:30 a.m., December 1st, 2002

 

 

November 30th, 2002

 

 

I came to Greece from a state of being disheartened, debt ridden, tired, stressed, lonely, and fed up with all the ugliness I saw around me. I had been living, for too many years, in an area littered with bums and filth.

Moving to Greece was a spiritual revelation. What in Greece and in Rhodes specifically is there not to be restored and elated by: the light, natural beauty, the inviting casual style of the Greeks, lack of crime, and the ability to have an ice cold beer sitting under a palm leafed awning watching the hot sunset over a brilliant cobalt blue sea. I am not the first foreigner, upon their arrival in Greece, to exclaim, "I am home." Those foreigners have all kinds of ideas what "home" means to them but what it means to me has more to do with my art. I have always loved to paint sharp, clean, bright colors and intense glowing light. I never quite got to see those kinds of attributes from reality in New York or California, there was always a kind of dirty haze in the air. When I first visited the Islands in Greece I found MY light, the one I dreamt about: this light means "home" for me.

Just today I angled my propelling motor scooter through the maze of medieval streets of the Old Town, where I live, and while crossing the bridge above a dry mote I saw a palm tree lit by a light so bright that the colors of orange fruits, of the green spikes of leaves, and of the sharp purple shadows were etched into my eyes. Without exaggeration, everyday this phenomenal light plays itself out  in Rhodes. Storms here are made up of breaking clouds of pure purple that part to let the sun's rays streak through them to land in spots of gold. Flat gray does not exist here.

The beauty of the Greek land, light, and my wonderful studio restored my sense of being an artist and easily put into perspective how absurd the ugliness of postmodernist culture is. When you can have this kind of beauty why would anyone focus on the ridiculous or the ugly?

My time to move on has come. But instead of moving out of desperation I am moving forward in the manner I started out as an artist: anything is possible and all roads look bright and shinning and promising for a wonderful future.

So off I go to St. Petersburg, Florida and I will live and work in a home/studio with panoramic views of water, land, and sky. I cannot think of a better way to move from Greece.

Wish me luck.

The next studio update will be from the U.S.A.! Though, I am moving on the December 31st I don't know who soon after that I will be able to update, I doubt it will be on the first of the New Year.

 

Panoramic view from my studio. Photo date November 30, 2002.   The sea is down to the left. At sunset a brilliant glowing orange light comes from behind and its rays turn the whole town on fire.

 

 

 

 

On corner of my studio, May 2002. By far, the most romantic studio I have ever had.

 

 

 

Studio Courtyard, May 2002. Six months out of the year this is my dining room.

 

Home/Studio in the Mediaeval Town of Rhodes, Greece. The whole second floor is my painting studio. The stack of wood is olive wood and a wood fire is the only heat for the house. It has a wonderful smell.

Studio Update:

 

Finally, I began painting the body of Venus. I really doubt I will be able to finish her in this remaining month .  What I will most likely do is make a few pastel sketches, for the nuances of the colors, a few drawings of details, and perhaps take a few digital images.  I hate to do the later because I don't feel ANYTHING when I look at photographs and I don't want to convey a lack of feeling in my painting for anything in the world! Let's see what I can get done quickly...

 

 

Artemis, on the other hand, I am virtually sure will come to completion. The model can now come several times a week, huge help.

 

Well...that is it, the last update from my studio in Rhodes. God, every day for the last week I have been laughing and crying and jumping up and down--but I am very happy.

Cheers to you all.