Tuesday 27 September 2016

Aphaia

It's been a while since I did anything with the temples that I've visited in Greece over the years.  I've had lots of different projects going on and different things to focus on.  I thought that now would be a good time to get back to my temple drawings.  The last one I drew was Sounio, my favourite temple.  Aphaia on the island of Aegina is probably my second favourite temple.  We've visited this early 5th century BC temple a few times with our last visit in 2013.  Rather than catch a bus up the rather large hill that it is situated on, I liked to punish myself with a gruelling walk up the very steep ancient road that would have connected the temple to the sea 2,500 years ago.  Yes, I like to do these things in 40 degrees centigrade.  Sometimes the local people have offered us a lift in their car when they see use hiking for miles down some deserted road at midday in the middle of nowhere and we have trouble trying to explain that we actually like what we are doing!  Such was the situation whenever I visited the temple of Aphaia.  One hundred years ago it was completely ruined, however after archaeologists had excavated the area they realised that a large part of the temple was still there and basically put the stones back together.  They also found the remains of a much earlier temple on the site. 

When I first learnt about this temple while studying my GCSE Classical Civilisation it was always taught as the temple of Artemis on Aegina.  It is actually the temple of Aphaia, a local goddess exclusively worshipped on Aegina.  In some versions of mythology she was a companion of Artemis, in others she was the daughter of Zeus.  The temple was said to be built on the spot where she was seen by the locals and then miraculously disappeared. 

Aphaia, pen drawing, A3 (2016)

UPDATE! Some further drawings of this temple


Temple of Aphaia (detail of side view), pen drawing (2016



Temple of Aphaia (side view) 2016

Friday 16 September 2016

Autumn Colours

It's nearly that time of the year already when the colours start to come through on the trees and the weather starts to get noticeably colder (especially after such exceptionally hot weather).  I wrote about this time of year last year.  I always really love the colours of the leaves however I hate being cold and this country seems to have never ending cold and darkness throughout the winter.  We brought a SAD lamp last year to see if it helped with seasonal affective disorder.  Some scientists are sceptical about whether this is real while others notice that populations that are further away from the equator and in particular live in the northern or southern hemispheres tend to suffer more depression during the winter.  I must admit that after using the SAD lamp I always felt slightly less tired and had a feeling of energy.  I hope this winter has a lot of sunny, frosty days.  Winters with lots of sun albeit really cold seem to me to be much easier to handle than wet, windy and dark winters.  There is also more opportunity to gather ideas for future art projects when there is more light.

Autumn Colours, pen and coloured pencil drawing (A4) 2016

Section from Autumn Colours

Section from Autumn Colour





Saturday 10 September 2016

Two pen and coloured pencil flower drawings

Mahonia 2, pen and coloured pencil drawing, A4 (2016)
White Orchid, pen and coloured pencil drawing, A4 (2016)

 

Here's some my latest work from this week.  The first drawing is a continuation of a painting called 'Mahonia' that I worked on earlier this year.  The second drawing is more abstract.  I didn't purposely set out to make the drawing this way, it just happened.  I think that art should be like that, allow it to happen.  Sometimes the results are what you expect and sometimes not, for better or worse.  #flowerdrawing #pendrawing #abstractdrawing #fineartdrawing



Sunday 4 September 2016

Art on Ebay

After a long break from making any art due to other work commitments and a long holiday abroad I have started to clear out some of the art I already have at home so that I have space for the next batch of work that I will be starting on this week.  Starting prices are low so if you want a bargain original art work then have a look at my auction listings on Ebay. #abstract #artforsale

Leaves
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291863273359?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
 
Mahonia
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291863963063?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
 
Peacock
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291863970027?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Flower Study
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291863965997?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649