3:34PM update: stopping a little early this afternoon. today's additions to parade 35 were critical in making the painting begin to sing. not quite yet, but almost.
tomorrow we have meetings in alamosa, so i'll resume sunday, when i might complete this painting.
YESTERDAY TODAY
huge waves crash onto the dock below my son dimitri's house
8:47AM update: EASTER ON ANDROS
below is a detail from a 2014 collage, which includes a portion of a map of the cycladic island of andros, where my son dimitri, my two grandkids philip & manio and their grandmother marina are currently spending greek orthodox easter. the weather has been winter-like, with winds gusting to 50 MPH, but easter sunday should be sunny and warm. I've spent many easters on andros, and can smell the lamb roasting on the spit as i write this. tonight, meagi pareskevi, there's a procession in the center of town marking christ's crucifixion and decent from the cross. tomorrow night at midnight, cries of CHRISTOS ANESTI!! (christ is risen!!) will be heard throughout greece, and is used as a greeting the following day, easter sunday. the response to this EASTER SUNDAY greeting is: "ALITHOS!!!" (IN TRUTH, HE HAS!!)
in the early years of my time in greece, chora, the capitol,where dimitri's house is, was a totally different place. it was more like dylan thomas' under milk wood, with lots of very quirky, lovable characters whose lives and daily activities were interwoven. i know i'm not romanticizing the experience when i describe it as a golden moment in time. when you walked down the main street of chora, paved in marble and closed to motor vehicles, you were likely to encounter a character such as the one in my portrait: a penniless man who was given small tasks and errands by the members of the community so that he could survive. in his threadbare coat, he always had the bearing of a prince and the humility of a saint.