Thursday 22 January 2015

Sounio 2


This is the second drawing/painting which follows the theme of Sounio.  I explained in my post 'Sounio' earlier in January why this place is important to me.  I'll probably develop the A3 drawing/paintings into a larger scale oil painting at some time in the near future.


Sounio 2, pen drawing and gouache, A3 (2015)

Sunday 11 January 2015

Latest Exhibition - Draw Your Own Conclusions

My work is being exhibited alongside other drawings from 14th January to 1st March 2015 in Altrincham. Below is the promotional material for this exhibition (which features my 'Girl' drawing).

 



Here are two of my art works included in the exhibition

Top image, Girl
Bottom image, Apotropaic Trees


There is also a life drawing session for all abilities that is taking place on Saturday 17th January.

Friday 9 January 2015

Sounio

I thought it was about time I brought more of my other passion into my art.  I studied Classical Civilisation at university for three years followed by a fourth year completing my MA in Ancient World Studies.  My studies included ancient Greek and Roman literature, Classical Greek, Latin and Art History and Architecture.  Art History and Classical Greek Architecture have always appealed to me and I have spent lots of time reading about, studying and visiting ancient sites around Greece.  One of these sites has always had a special interest for me and this is the temple of Poseidon (king of the sea) at Sounio, or sometimes referred to as Sounion. 


I first came here in 1999 as an undergraduate student.  I was studying an Ancient Topography and Archaeology undergraduate course with the British School at Athens.  As part of this course we had to look at many important archaeological sites around Greece.  This is how I first arrived at Sounio.  It is located on the far tip of Attica about 80km from Athens.  The first time I visited this place I was struck by the peacefulness of the site even though there were many tourists rambling around.  The other notable impression it left me with was how blue the surrounding area was. 

The temple sits on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Aegean sea which spreads out into the horizon and becomes almost indistinguishable from the blue sky (obviously different on a cloudy day).  The story of this temple is that it was part of a triad of temples, one called Aphaia on the island of Aegina, the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens and then Sounio.  It dates from about the middle of the 5th century BC and was accessed by worshippers by boat rather than by road.  It wasn't used for long and was soon abandoned.
Sounio, pen drawing and gouache (2015)
It is now quite ruined, yet for me it is one of my favourite temples.  The amount of ruin is just right, the setting is spectacular, there is a wonderful peacefulness and lastly a very good myth that is associated with this site.  This is the story of the Athenian hero Theseus.  He volunteered to go to Crete as one of the tributes to the bull headed monster, the Minotaur.  Each year the Athenians had to send 12 youths (6 girls and 6 boys) as a tribute to the Cretans to be eaten by the Minotaur.  Theseus arrived in Crete and caught the eye of the Cretan princess Ariadne.  She helped him by giving him thread to unwind while he was in the labyrinth where the Minotaur lived.  If he killed the Minotaur and had no thread he could become lost and never find his way out.  With the thread, Theseus was able to escape the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur.  Ariadne went with him although he abandoned her on the island of Naxos upon his return to Athens.  In his haste to sail back to Athens, he had forgotten his promise to his father, King Aegeus.  If he was killed in Crete, the sail of the boat was to be black, if he was successful in killing the Minotaur the sail was to be white.  Theseus left the black sail on.  Aegeus waited at Sounio looking for the boat.  When it was spotted on the horizon with a black sail, Aegeus threw himself in despair into the sea, thus it is now known as the Aegean sea in honour of King Aegeus. 

And so, after a gap of 15 years I returned to Sounio in August 2014.  It still had the same magic that it had the first time around.  The same peacefulness, the blue of the sky and the sea and just as windy.  A very special place.