Paros Window

On Paros, most Greek windows, doors, trim, fences and railings are painted either dark or light blue - the same blue as can be found in the flag of Greece.  There are  few exceptions - but this interior bedroom window in green is one of them.  It is built into a typical island house constructed out of stone and wood then covered with stucco and painted annually with a whitewash made out of crushed marble.  As is common with this style of architecture, some elements of the underlying stone or wood structure remain visible - such as the recessed wood beam above the window which is not completely covered by stucco.  The exterior scene is a common one - an olive tree!

Paros Garden

In this 9x12 pen & ink & watercolor, I thought I'd experiment a bit with an impressionistic view of the garden I spent so much time looking at on my Greek vacation.  I painted the background first then inked in just a few of the multitude of plants which were fighting for my attention.

Paros Weeds

Even the weeds on the island of Paros were good looking! 

Greek Queen Anne's Lace

Not visible, but to the left of the scene in the "View of Anti Paros" (below), are farmed terraces cut into the red Greek soil which are lined with rock walls.  These terraces form the background for this botanical watercolor of a common flower of Paros.  Queen Anne's Lace can be found wild everywhere -  in fields above the sea and in stone-surrounded spaces near abandoned monasteries.  Although described as an invasive species in various U.S. horticulture sites, I fell in love with this plant.  The young flowers are a pretty shade of pink.  The more mature white flower has a unique black dot in its center which can be mistaken for an insect.  And the over mature flower folds itself up into a green web.  These three stages of being are often visible on the same plant swaying in the island winds.

Pencil Sketch of the View of Anti Paros

Greek Aeonium

Some gardens in Paros, Greece look much like those illustrated in Sunset's Western Gardens book and include the same plants one might find in a California garden.  Another botanical drawing, this Aeonium variety Atropurpurem, with its dark purple rosettes, is set against a distant grove of olive trees.  Some of the olive trees on Paros are hundreds of years old and help remind one of the long history of that land.  Growing everywhere in the red, rocky soil they are a welcome sight and produce delicious local olives and olive oil which I consumed in great quantities on my vacation.

Greek Geranium

After seeing some botanical drawings in a gallery in the main port town of Paroikia, Paros I thought I'd try something similar (but different).  This pink geranium is set against a small section of the "View from Anti Paros" painting (below) and shows the island of Anti Paros, the Aegean Sea and the neighboring islands of Naxos and Ios in the distance.

View of Anti Paros

When I first got to Paros, Greece this past May, I stayed up in the hills above the small fishing village of Aliki.  Having left my heavy Nikon camera at home, I thought I'd do little water color sketches of the places I visited rather than take photographs.  This first painting is the view from the house in the hills looking down past the garden to the Aegean Sea.  The small houses in the distance are on the nearby island of Anti Paros.  Not seen here are the two larger islands of Naxos and Ios - which were hidden from view in the haze.

Experimental Portraiture

Holiday Tree

San Geronimo tree decked out for the holidays - or maybe it's just anticipating Easter.

Garden Potted Plants Before the Big Freeze

Everything in my garden was doing great before the big freeze in Northern California. Now many of the plants are not so happy.

Here I combined my pen & ink & marker sketch of happier potted plants with some new Alien Skin marble filters for background texture. 

Caution

Caution, mothers with babies and cougars crossing! Photo composite done for Illustration Friday.

Jay Weill on the Ferry

While commuting to San Francisco on the ferry to practice new grandma skills in August, I continued to run into Jay Weill, a biking lawyer who apparently keeps banking hours (or is it grandparent hours?). Here he is with other working commuters. You can tell the workers from the tourists on the ferry. The tourists appear to be the only ones who look out the window at the gorgeous view.

Distorted Memories

More fun with scans from old 4x5 negatives to anise and other flowers from my garden

Worn Out Pig

This worn out ceramic pig is happy growing flowers on top of a colorful tile table in Santa Cruz. Pen & ink painting done for Illustration Friday's word "Worn"

Play unfolds a mathematics secret

By playing around, I finally figured out how to use onOne's PhotoFrame software. The secret of its use finally unfolded. I like this mathematics frame a lot so it put it around the Toucan I painted in a combination of Corel Painter and Photoshop.

This is a stretch for the word "unfold" for Illustrationfriday.com but was an enjoyable exercise nevertheless.

Orchid Craving Attention

Instead of cleaning the house, I noticed my orchid was craving attention. So I drew it with pen & ink and pencil. Done for Illustration Friday's word "Craving"

Adapting Chameleons

Some chameleons adapt to changing chrysanthemums better than others.

Cracked Haiku #8

"In the August grass
Struck by the last rays of sun
The cracked tea cup screams"

A Haiku poem by Etheridge Knight, who got his start writing poetry in prison. One interpretation of this poem is that it is from the perspective of a black male prisoner, looking out his prison window, likening the situation of an incarcerated life to nature.

Image done in Illustrator and Photoshop for Illustration Friday's word CRACKED.

Insect Parade

Dung Beetle Sisyphus, realizing he is destined to repeat forever the meaningless task of rolling balls of dung up hills, revolts and covers his dung ball with flowers. Other insects, appreciating the journey is what it's all about, follow the enlightened beetle thus creating an insect parade.

Composite done for Illustration Friday's word "Parade."