The Artist on the Road

While enjoying the view on the hotel balcony, I hear the rhythmic sound of bells, as if someone is playing music nearby. But when I listen more closely, I realize that the sound is coming from down the hill. I lean out over the rail to determine the origin of this mysterious music. Strangely, it’s a herd of goats. The clinks and clanks come from the bells around their necks as they walk. According to legend, goats found the site that became Delphi’s Oracle. Their goatherd noticed them bleating strangely and gamboling about. The goatherd himself also received the manic enthusiasm when he approached a crevice that emitted a fragrant gas. It smelled like the sweetest and most expensive perfume.

To see my dad’s perspective on the day check out the Pale Horse Blog

Today we are renting a car to travel on the mainland for several days. It seems too soon to leave Athens since I’ve not painted much, but with so much of Greece left to see, we must move on. After making a few wrong turns to get out of the city, we finally make our way to Eleusis, but it will close earlier than we expected, at 3 pm, so we only have an hour and a half. Scouring the site by foot, I’m having difficultly finding a good subject to draw. Overall, the site isn’t a bad place to sketch, but there isn’t a tall structure like a temple for example, to compose a picture around. Most of the site contains ruins only a couple of feet high. I’m beginning to think Athens spoiled me. Finally, I choose a place near the entrance. At this angle, I have architectural ruins in the foreground with the entrance to the Underworld, a grotto, in the background.

While I start blocking in the larger shapes on my paper, my dad checks in, and reminds me of the mythology of Eleusis. It was here in primordial time that Hades sprang from the ground in his horse-drawn carriage to kidnap Persephone, the daughter of divine Demeter, taking her through the Gates of Hades (the grotto) and into to the Underworld to serve as its Mistress. Eleusis was also the site of the ancient Mysteries, during which Demeter’s search for her kidnaped daughter was reenacted. Every fall at this time of year, as many as a thousand people from all over the ancient world were initiated into the Mysteries. During the ceremony, the initiates witnessed an epiphany exposed by a blinding flash of light. The essence of the epiphany was kept secret under punishment of death, and even today remains unknown. Once initiated, and later reaching the end of their mortal lives, they passed into the Elysian Fields, where they lived out eternity in Persephone’s care and in the presence of the gods.

Just before I finish my painting, a guard tells us that the site is closing in a few minutes. What a quick hour and a half. I have just enough time to gather my belongings and drag them outside the gate. Once there, I put the finishing touches on my painting, and use a cardboard folder as a fan to hasten the drying time. Luckily, I’m traveling with two watercolor blocks so that while one painting is drying, I can start a new one. If I could only find the time to paint two paintings instead of one at each location, I’d be doing great. But today is not that day since we are already back on the road and headed to our next destination, Mycenae.

As we exit the Hotel Klytemnestra, the evening sunset splashes brilliant orange across the sky and paints the landscape in a warm glow. The street is still devoid of life, but a little farther on, we see two groups of diners on the patio of a restaurant. A host seats us near the other patrons, and we enjoy an Italian dinner of pasta, salad, and crusty bread while discussing our travel plans. Tomorrow is a big day for us since Mycenae is one of our more anticipated stops. We’ll walk amongst the ancient ruins and learn about the Mycenaean culture that flourished here.

To see my dad’s perspective on the day check out the Pale Horse Blog.

After a productive morning of painting, we hop onto the Metro, traveling North to Victoria Station. From there, we walk a couple of blocks south to the National Archeological Museum where I hope to see the wall paintings of Akrotiri (Akrotiri is a special archeological site on the Greek island Santorini).

Before I left for Greece, I decorated a couple Moleskine sketchbooks with Akrotiri wall paintings to give them character.

Click here to learn more about how (and why) I paint my Moleskine sketchbook covers.

After a day of museums and drawing, we board the Metro at Monastirion Station and head up to a suburb called Kifissia, in the northern part of Athens. We meet with Irene, a Greek friend of my dad’s whom he met playing online Scrabble a couple of years ago. She treats us to dinner at one of her favorite Greek tavernas: Greek salata, fish, fried cheese, spanakopita, and of course, Greek white wine. The wine is nicely balanced with grassy and citrus aromas and a touch of oak. I feel lucky to be treated to a delicious dinner and to have made a new friend.