Kalamata Town Centre. Friday 21st February

The town centre was very quiet today, much of the population was nursing its sore heads and stomachs; consequences of the previous day's excesses.  Thursday 20th had, this year, been 'Barbecue Thursday' a greek tradition connected to lent and Easter which dictates that on the Thursday in the middle of 'Carnival' local authorities, businesses and private residents will extend hospitality to share huge amounts of grilled meat copious litres of local wine with which to wash it down.

'On Loco' 20th February

This stone-built structure stands at the end of the harbour mole at Koroni.  I am uncertain of its origin, it is reputed to have been a shelter for a lamp kept burning for returning seafarers, a lamp from which they could light, when they came ashore, their lanterns.   The stone is deteriorating but some attempts appear to have been made from time to time to keep the structure in at least reasonable order.

Plagiarism?

Fellow blogger Andrew MacLaren-Scott posted recently a couple of excellent photographs of the scenery near his home in Scotland after the first snow of this winter.  So impressed was I with Andrew's pictures that I could not resist attempting this quick sketch.

I made the drawing using Rohrer & Klingner Leipzig inks; 'Scabiosa' for the background, 'Sepia' for the foreground.

A Spot of organisation

Drawn 16th February

I have accumulated far too many paints; too many tubes and pans of too many colours from too many manufacturers, consequently I spend far too much time searching for the  particular colour I want to use.  To try to mitigate the problem I began to put my paints into recycled food tins.  Because the tins were nearly all identical empty Lavazza coffee tins this attempt at organisation was something of a failure.  I then hit on the bright idea of decorating the tins with illustrations of their content.

Drawn 16th February

Mystraki in Westering Sun

Drawn 10th February

A sketch of Mystraki catching the last of the afternoon sun.  I hope at sometime to make a larger, more considered, studio painting from this sketch.

Through the Kitchen Window

Drawn 9th February

The view north from the house.

Oxalis pes-caprae

In winter and early spring these cool lemon yellow flowers carpet the ground in the olive groves hereabouts.  In this sketch I attempted to be really free with my paint; to try to create an impression rather than to make a botanical drawing.

Drawn 6th February

Romulea

These small single flowers are flowering in abundance now.  The open beautifully in the morning sun but close with the fading light of the afternoon.

Drawn 3rd February

Iris Cretensis

From December until April the roads and tracks near my home are generously lined with clumps of Iris Cretensis.  The colours of the petals vary from pale blue-violet to intense deep purple.

Drawn 2nd February