This is the house where Avyi was brought up by her grandmother. Avyi is one of 5 sisters, the youngest of which had to be brought up by an adoptive mother, as her mother couldn’t afford to feed her. Difficult times. It’s now a storeroom, but Avyi has lovingly painted flowers on every interior wall, and decorated the outside in her own simple style, using leftover paint foubd discarded in the rubbish bins by the side of the road. Real flowering plants adorn the garden, all planted in an assortment of containers in the typically Greek way.
Μ’αρεσε την κληματαριά που αγκαλιάζει το σπιτάκι της γιαγιάς της Αυγής. Το απογευματινό φως, επίσης, μου τράβηξε το μάτι. Είναι εδώ που μεγάλωσε η Αυγή, στο σπίτι της γιαγιάς της, το οποίο τώρα, χρησιμοποιείται σαν αποθήκη.
This tree caught my eye while out walking in the outskirts of the village of Makyneia, in the Nafpaktos region of Greece. The golden grasses and spring flowers surrounding it totally “zinged”!
This one tree stood out in particular, surrounded as it was by a gloriously golden field of grasses and wild flowers. Its Squareish format also perfectly suited my small canvas.
Oil on canvas, by Ask May 2024 – 280mm x 250mm approximately
Elaine Ask’s oil paintings on show in Athens 9-14 March 2024Elaine Ask’s oil paintings on show in Athens
Its been a long time – many decades in fact, since I had any of my work on show in Athens, but thanks to #ArtNumber23 more Greeks will have this opportunity to see some of my recent oil paintings of traditional Greek subjects. Many thanks to the organisers Constantinos Anjulatos, and Mikey, for all their dedication to this project!
Sometimes the only way to capture a scene is to grab the phone from your pocket and to click. However, an image on a phone is soon forgotten, overtaken by the simplicity of capture as more and yet more images mount up , all hidden from the world on a tiny micrchip.
Η Κυρία στο Παράθυρο. 40 x40 cm
In this case, I was walking along the side of the little path parallel main road in Μακύνεια, mainland Greece, on my way back from the local shop there, when I spotted this lady in a her kitchen window. Even though she was some distance away, my clever phone with its 5 lenses, allowed me to choose to capture it up close and as a square image. I didn’t, however, have any square canvases with me, so its had to wait a couple of months for my vision to come to fruition!
I loved the way the light danced momentarily on the walls before again being overtaken by the shadows, as the steps disappeared behind the trees, obscuring the secret orange grove.
Μ’αρεσαν της αλλαγές φωτισμού στην διάρκεια της ημέρας, και της καμπύλες που μου παρουσιαζοταν τα δέντρα και την κληματαριά, καθώς και τα σκαλοπάτια μου έχουν μια, αίσθηση μυστήριο.
Stone Steps in Elli’s Garden. Τα Σκαλοπάτια στο Κήπο της Έλλης.
Αυτό το έργο έχει το ίδιο θέμα με το προηγούμενο προηγούμενο, αλλά με με πιο γλυκό φως και από μια άλλη πλευρά. Έτσι έχει γίνει πιό ποιητικό.
This painting is of the same subject as the one above, but is seen from a different angle and at a later time in the day so has a gentler light, making it seem more poetic.
Τοπιο στην Νέα Μονη Χίου. View from Nea Moni, Chios
A friend of mine wanted to visit Nea Moni to light a candle in memory of her late father, so while we were there I enjoyed this view so much, that I chose it for my next painting. The late morning light was very strong so each segment in the composition is clearly defined. The monastery itself was directly behind me, so anyone who knows it will recognise this view..
Η Παρέα στο Καρνάγιο, Dimitri’s Boatyard.
I’ve watched Dimitris over the years, working and socialising in his boatyard, so to celebrate my tenth visit to Chios to see my long-standing friend Elli and her family, it seemed fitting to create this painting of an everday scene forever rembered. I finished it just in time as my flight was due to leave so it’s staying where it will be loved.
Πηγαίνω στην Χίο κάθε 2 ως 3 χρόνια, και μια αφού ήταν η δέκατη φορά φέτος, διάλεξα να ζωγραφίσω και που είναι κοντά στην καρδιά της φίλης μου, την Έλλη, και να ζωγραφίσω το χώρο όπου παλεύει καθημερινός ο άνδρας της, ο καράβομαραγκός Δημήτρης. Έρχονται συχνά και οι πελάτηες του, και οι φίλοι, να κάθονται κάτω από την κληματαριά να πιούνε ένα καφεδάκι παρέα.
When I first moved to Dewsbury, I painted several canvases from subjects from on Park Road. Here the children playing so happily will now be in their 40’s of course. Sadly I sold this at Holmfirth Art Fair, as the children’s father, the late Stephen Battye chose not to purchase it, as he had recently commissioned another portrait of his children. He did however, purchase another of my paintings at the time. I offered to buy it back many years ago, but the couple who then owned it refused to sell it, though it has subsequently been sold on at auction at much less than its original value, so if anyone knows who currently owns it , I would love to know! It encapsulates all the natural fun of simple child’s play as I watched them making their mud pies of the garden wall at the Gothic House, as it was then known!
Σπιτάκι με μπουγάδα. Little Greek house with washing line and grapevine.This is how it started out, as a charcoal sketch, directly onto the canvas.Avyi’s magical garden. Ο μαγικός κήπος της Αυγής στην Μακύνεια.Moody Mountains from Avyi’s Garden
Its scorching hot, in the middle of the day in Greece, but have found a shady spot underneath a fig tree in a secluded corner of Galaxidi. The easel is up and the painting sketched out in charcoal directly onto the 80 x 60 cm canvas, underpainted in cerulean blue oils. Semi-squishy fallen figs get stuck on my sandals, but at least I found a subject quickly and have made a start. Its my last full day in Greece so need to work fast!
Charcoal sketch for an oil painting. Light and shade creates fascinating patterns on the ground beneath an olive and a mandarin orange tree.Photo of the scene taken at the start.Easel set up in a shady spotPaints laid out neatlyThe first few brushstokes indicating the most exciting areas of light and colour. This is contrary to how I usually work, building up from one section to the next, but am too excited to see it begin to take shape.Its coming on slowly…Shadows and Light – Under a Fig Tree in Galaxidi, Greece
I love Greece, and all her people, but most of all love the old ways of life, and the old traditions. As I used to live in the north of Greece, in Thessaloniki, I read and write and speak fluent Greek, so its easy to feel Greek too!
This painting though was initially captured as a photo on my phone, as it was my last day in Samos, and was actually on my way to the airport, but had diverted on the spur of the moment, to take one last look at Manolates and to try to track down the lady I had heard wove traditional rag rugs on a handloom. I was standing outside her little shop while she packaged up my parcel, when I spotted this delightful old man walking up the hill, using a walking stick, so quickly positioned myself to get the ideal shot on my phone, as he approached the blue doors but without covering the view of another man casually sitting in front of that same door. Success!
It was several months later though when I finally got round to turning that initial idea into an oil painting.
Oil on canvas 41x61cm. Finished Oil painting by Ask in Μανωλάτες Samos, Greece.
It starts though by underpainting the canvas in diluted blue oil paint, then sketching out the image in charcoal.
First Ask sketches the subject in charcoal on a blue underpainted canvasOil painting in the making by Elaine Ask, in Manolates – Μανωλάτες – Samos, Greece. 2020
Then gradually adding the main features of the people in the painting
Oil on Canvas by Ask, as the oil painting nears completion
Its for sale at £850, though I now prefer to keep all my work!
Ask - Artist 