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A Caress of Cretan Calm
26 March – 4 April 2018
“Seems I got to have a change of scene
‘Cause every night I have the strangest dreams……..”
I’ve recently written a catch-up Crete visit blog and used a track by Jittery Joe as its title, so why not use him again, he was really in his prime in 1969. In any case, it’s a good excuse to make a link to another of his youtube movies.
Every time we make a visit to this Shangri-La island we seem to arrive dead on our feet, but thanks to a little help from our friends P&M, we’re always feelin’ alright by the time we leave.
This time around our habitual busy work schedule had once again caused us both to be running on empty during the weeks before departing from Luton to fly eastward into a welcoming evening sky. P&M’s welcoming open arms were there to greet us at Heraklion airport and we were instantly immersed into another world. One that’s lived at a more relaxed pace, filled with happy smiling faces speaking a language and employing typography we can’t understand, but where our ignorance is bliss. And what’s more, despite the tragic state of the Greek economy, roads in better condition than the UK!!!
Arriving in the peaceful tranquility of moonlit Agia Pelagia near Spili, the only sounds to fill the air were the distant occasional clangs of wandering goatbells. The following morning, breakfast on the terrace in warm morning sunshine. Immediately we were enshrouded in relaxation mode. We just drank it all in. It was impossible to resist.
The next ten days drifted by in typically leisurely Cretan pace. We explored Rethymno and the grounds and fortifications of the Fortezza; had a guided tour of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete; drew and painted on a different scale for a change in my Olive Grove Studio; explored the narrow streets and harbour of Venetian flavoured Chania and the hillside village calm of Ancient Lappa; found aged and decaying murals in lonely hillside chapels; walked isolated mountain tracks with my trusty Cretan guide; enjoyed the beachside community haven of Matala, with the Mermaid Cafe, mentioned by Joni Mitchell in her song ‘Carey‘, a track on the album ‘Blue‘; witnessed sunsets and starry skies to die for; ate good Cretan food, drank excellent ‘Karydia Brother’ wine.
A relaxing, unwinding, de-stressing, calming and thoroughly restful visit……………..however………………there was one occasion potentially detrimental and harmful to my health.
What began as a normal Friday evening spent in a bar in Plakias quickly evolved into a particularly stressful nail biting one. As any lifelong follower of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club would confirm, supporting this team is a roller coaster ride. This year has been a good one, but it’s still had its share of ‘moments’. Having found a bar with a TV and a Skysports football channel available, I endured one of the most traumatic games of my life. The season has ended well, but watching my team hang on with 9 men to beat Middlesbrough can only be described as an absolutely nerve shredding experience. The following week it felt like history repeating itself as WWFC survived two penalties in added-on time to beat Cardiff. Only a Wolves supporter knows what having unyielding loyalty to the old gold and black really feels like.
However, even having said that, this was an isolated anxiety-associated episode. As far as stress is concerned, Crete is the perfect antidote!
“You feelin’ alright?
I’m not feelin’ too good myself……..”
Cretan Season in the Sun
19 – 26 October 2016
“We had joy, we had fun
We had seasons in the sun……..”
Having just returned from another visit to Crete I was about to write a new blog when I found that there wasn’t one from my previous visit. I suddenly felt very confused. After experiencing such a stimulating and rejuvenating environment surely I couldn’t have forgotten to reflect upon it? Had it mysteriously disappeared? Or had I really been too busy to actually do one.
A look at the calendar and then it all became clear. Yes, I was busy. The trip was made two years ago, during the Autumn half term break while working at Rowlatts Hill Primary painting the ‘Once Upon A Time’ mural. However very soon after we returned our world turned upside down, as Mum’s health took a serious turn for the worse and sadly she passed away. It could be said that this visit was the calm before the storm. The writing of a reflective Crete blog was obviously lost in the maelstrom of events which occurred during the weeks that followed and which saw that difficult year through to its conclusion.
Before embarking on a new blog therefore, I’ll make amends and write an old one first.
It’s the last week of October 2016 and all is still well. Our busy schedule has been replaced with a few days in the sun, in Peter & Monica’s exceptional company, staying with them in their idyllic world in Agia Pelagia near Spili, and our minds and soul nourished and enriched once again with warm Cretan hospitality; watching a sleeping dog soak up the sun while drinking a chilled glass of Fix beer at the Agia Fotia Taverna in Agia Fotini and listening to nothing but the sound of lapping water; exploring sights of significance in the history of Crete, the monastery at Arkadi and the WWII monument and bridge at Preveli; finding plants both beautiful and strange while wandering the paths of the Botanical Park & Gardens of Crete, a haven of tranquility created out of the ashes of a fire in 2003; looking at the jaw dropping sight of the upper entrance of the Samaria Gorge; indulging in the sights of the beautiful Amari valley and taking a hike up to the summit of Mount Samitos; luxuriating in the peace, shade and uninterrupted birdsong of the Olive Grove studio; savouring a glass or maybe three of the latest batch of my Kaydia brother Yiorgos’ excellent home brewed wine; the leisurely hustle and bustle of cafe life in Plakias and Rethymno thrown in for good measure.
We couldn’t foresee the events that were about to unfold, but that break gave us the energy to face it. We’d found an island of calm, and the peace and tranquility of Crete had given us the strength to confront anything an impending storm could throw at us.
Carribbean Crete
16 – 22 May 2015
“Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right! “
Rise up this mornin’,
Smile with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, “This is my message to you-ou-ou: “
It’s not the Carribbean, but it certainly felt like it with Bob’s familiar and reassuring voice playing in the background as we relaxed to an evening meal with a glass or three of locally produced krasi at a beachside restaurant in Ligres. To shake off the cobwebs, recharge the batteries and forget life’s worries, trials and tribulations the perfect answer is to escape to Crete and see what a week of sunshine and wine in a country with a radical left-wing government does for you.
Thanks to our very good chums Peter & Monica we were able to do just that by returning to our version of Shangri-La, or more accurately Agia Pelagia in the centre of the island. Having the opportunity to work in my ‘Cretan Studio’ again was tonic for the soul. With seven days of wall to wall sunshine time stood still, the conveyor belt switched off and life was lived at a more relaxed pace in a landscape lush and green following an unusually wet winter. Travelling on empty roads there is so much to view, driving through deep and imposing gorges which lead to idyllic and isolated retreats such as the aforementioned beach and restaurant at Ligres, the Agia Fotia Taverna and the rich red abandoned village at Aradena.
Add to this the opportunity to work en plein air in the dappled shade of an olive grove, accompanied by the chirruppy and happy whistling of busy Cretan birdlife and the fleeting company of delicate dancing butterflies, listening to the breeze blowing harmoniously through viridian and silver leaves, the occasional sound of an inquisitive and magnificent black carpenter bee making its conspicuous hum as it flies ponderously from flower to flower, the fleeting scampering feet of green and brown lizards, the scream of a peacock, the shrill stridulating vibrations of grasshopper bodyparts, the occasional spontaneous peal of distant sheep and goat bells – dare I suggest it’s even more relaxing than listening to Sarah Walker presenting Essential Classics on Radio 3.
Adopting Bob as the soundtrack for the week, the combination of good company, krasi and contemplation has been restorative, refreshing and stimulating, very much like a life-affirming cocktail. Had Bob been with us he may have added a stimulant or two of his own but the change of pace and sense of place was enough, the only vaguely hallucinagenic moment for me was the sight of multi-coloured ants walking across my feet while working in the seclusion of the olive grove.
Aristotle or Plato (or was it Lynyrd Skynyrd?) must surely have said something very similar so apologies to them if I’m stealing their wise and philosophical words, but to put it simply………..it’s been Bloody Orea!
Having a Bad Trip?
A misconception?
A visual deception?
Confused perception?
Rainbow transcending
Colours mixing and blending
My palette amending
Tints, shades and pure hues
Animated reds and blues
Total spectrum forming queues
Cobalt figurines
Pebble dashed ultramarines
Crawling aubergines
Army of orange blots
Trampllng over coloured pots
Invading yellow polka dots
Sun filled fields of green
Poppy splatter unforeseen
Marching marks intervene
Tan, rust, milit’ry brown
In ‘No Man’s Land’ puddle moiré drown
Somme-like, faces down
Bad trip? All is fine!
Psychedelic dream is mine
A paint mixers dotted line
Small chromatic flecks
Stippling, swimming insect specks
Nothing anymore complex
– I’ve Aints in my Paints!
Image making workshops at Warmington & Titchmarsh Schools
17 & 18.11.14
Not the most accurate of weather forecasts. It wasn’t really very cold and both days began by being misty and dull, however the sun did shine brightly during the afternoon session of the first day and made a fleeting visit on the second. Nevertheless, this slight exaggeration of the truth is still a good excuse to include the Foo Fighters on my Blog Title Soundtracks page.
This week I have returned to work with children at Warmington and Titchmarsh Schools following a invitation from Executive Head Josie Milton. I was asked to give an art history/appreciation talk using the Impressionists as my subject, lead some drawing workshops and to paint a mural during a French themed week.
I met with two groups at each of the schools, years 3&4 during the morning sessions and years 1&2 in the afternoon at Warmington school on the first day, with a similar timetable at Titchmarsh School on the second. The schools would amalgamate at the end of the week to participate in a ‘Unity Day’ when we would paint another mural together. So watch this space to see how it turned out.
After my short talk about ‘The Story of Impressionism’, to which all of the groups listened very well and even contributed by asking several questions, I invited the children to work with me en plein air. First we made a small ‘sketchpad’ by folding an A4 piece of paper to A7 so that it would fit in the palm of the hand, and after some preliminary advice in the classroom about ‘taking a line for a walk’ using an HB pencil, we bravely ventured outside. A collection of small drawings were produced, accompanied by descriptive words which might trigger and reignite memories and sensations at a later date.
With this being a new experience of drawing outside the classroom, as well as it being the third week of November, our time was naturally determined by the temperature, however all of the groups made some very successful notations which involved careful looking and a high level of concentration. The year 3&4 groups walked a short distance to work at nearby churches, the Church of St Mary for the Warmington group with a different Church of St Mary for the Titchmarsh group, while the Year 1&2 groups worked on their respective school fields and play area.
Returning to the warm and controlled conditions of our ‘Studio’, we then worked together to produce a more finished version of one of our outdoor scribblings on a larger scale. Some good drawings were produced as a result and hopefully the working method I introduced might even encourage personal and individual work in the future. The note taking process was so simple and unfussy, and illustrated that the act of drawing is comparable to keeping a diary, and can be just as private.
As usual, I was far too preoccupied to take any photographs on either day, so many thanks Josie, Cathy, Mikayla, Lorna and Gill for taking these:
Warmington Year 3&4
Warmington Year 1&2
Titchmarsh Year 3&4
Titchmarsh Year 1&2
Colin Slater - artist 