Greece Photos-finally!

I am finally in Corfu, and I am in the lobby of

the hotel, hooked up by wireless connection, and

able to (hopefully) upload some pics. These are

from the 2nd day in Athens when we traveled up

the coast to the temple of Poseidon on the cape of

Sounion. Those are a couple of beach shots from the

bus. Neat boats. And a beautiful resort where I

wouldn't mind living for the next few months. (If

I don't come home...look for me there.) And then

the actual temple itself. Mythology says there was

a contest to see which god would rule in Athens,

and Athena won out over Poseidon. But Zeus, his

brother, felt sorry for him, and had this temple

built for him farther down the coast. It was perched

high up on this hill right by the sea. That is a pic

of the rocks and water below. It was beautiful.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Meteora Today

I cannot add any pics today either...rats!
I tried to upload some from the internet
just to show you where we have been,
but all the directions when you right click
are in Greek...and if you know anything
about the Greek alphabet, it is undecipherable.

Today we drove from Delphi up to Meteora.
We passed ancient olive groves where the
trees were 1000 years old. The trunks become
knarled and full of holes...very weathered, but
they still produce olives and they say the oil
gets better with age. interesting.

The Meteora region is fascinating. There are
these giant cliffs and rocks, and there are these
convents and monasteries built on top of them;
it is unbelievable. The first one we toured today
was built in the 1600's, right on top of this cliff.
They had to bring everything up with ropes,
pullies, and baskets. All the building materials,
supplies, etc..it was incredible. The chapel itself
was very small, but like all Greek Orthodox churches,
highly decorated inside with frescoes depicting the
life of Christ.
The second one we visited was newer; it had been
rebuilt after the Germans bombed the area in WWII.

We are on the way to Corfu tomorrow. Hope to update
with pics from there.

Google Delphi and Meteora online and see some photos

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Long Day today

I am not able to post any pics today. I am

on the computer in the business center

(no high speed in the room here!)

We are up in the mountains near the town

of Delphi. We toured the ruins today (it was

103 degrees...) and had some free time this

afternoon. I walked the little town, and took

some great photos. Hopefully I will be able

to add some more after tomorrow.

Thanks to some of you for tuning in. It helps

to know someone is reading this thing.

We ate dinner tonite at a little tavern that had

a deck that overlooked the valley. There was

an ancient grapevine growing on the deck, and

the sun went down as we were dining..it was

awesome. I know you all wish you were here!!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Not by Bread alone

You knew I would get to food sooner or later.

One time, someone was looking at my sketchbook,

and said, "Every page has some kind of food on

it...did you do anything except eat?" Well, when

you travel, eating new food is part of the experience!

This is a local kind of bread that they eat for

breakfast mostly. It has sesame seeds on it and is

kind of crunchy..yum.

I had a Greek salad for lunch, and tonight I had

some mousaka: a casserole with lamb and eggplant

and cheese. It was very good. But I don't think

we will be serving it in the Pea Patch anytime soon!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Leave me some comments, so I know you're

there!!

Opening Page

This is the opening page in my sketchbook..

That is the Temple of Delphi that we will see

tomorrow, and then the island of Mykonos

(which we will see later) That is the Porch of

the Maidens that I saw today..and then a

coastline scene (where we drove today). I

already have one interested in getting a

scanned copy of the sketchbook; hope to

sell a couple more.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Porch of the Maidens

That's me in front of the Parthenon, and you

can see some of the restoration scaffolding.

Also up there, is the Erecthium with the

porch of the maidens. These are replica

statues; the real ones are in the new Acropolis

Museum. Most of the other statues are in

the British museum in London because they

were taken there in the early 1800's. It is

still a big scandal, and the Greece govt would

love to get them back. long story...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Parthenon

This was our day at the Acropolis as a group.

That is our young guide, Dionysis, an Athens

native. He was very informative, and easy

going. We toured the top (it was really hot....)

of the Acropolis where the Parthenon is being

restored. The view from there is great, too.

From there, we walked around the main part

of town, and ate some lunch in the Plaka area.

Then this afternoon, there was a tour up the

coast to the Temple of Poseidon, atop a hill

right on the coastline, beautiful.

more later...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

more pics

a few more pics from Athens...enjoy

Day One-Parthenon

I was able to make it over to the Acropolis

and do a painting in my sketchbook. We are

going today and doing the whole tour. I will

try to do some small postcards of this, and

sell those.

It was so impressive, and it is so hard to wrap

your brain around how old all this is. The temple

was build between 447 and 438 BC...wow

Arrived!

We are here! We made the long 10 hour

flight overseas last night, and we are checked

in to our Athens hotel, the Metropolitan. Here

are some photos of the hotel. There is a nice

pool area on top with views of the city all around.

That is the Acropolis and the Parthenon in the

distance as seen from the roof top.

It is very hot here, in the 90's. (feels like home!)

They say they are experiencing a heat wave, but

it should be better as we travel north during the

week.

Athens has 5 million people, not counting the

tourists that invade in the summer. It is a very

modern, bustling city so far, but I am anxious to

see the older parts. will try to go today...

Keep you posted!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Cherries Jubilee

What a day! Daniel and I finished painting the

cherries, and he cut them out. We let them

dry, and then hung them on the outside of

the building. The florist brought the flower

arrangements, and we put them out there.

And it is almost all done. It looks great! and

I am very proud of the way it turned out.

Maybe we will attract some attention, and

draw in some new customers! hope so

I am getting ready to leave for Greece in the

morning, and I will be posting something as

soon as I can. Happy Trails!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sweet

We are still in the process of getting the

building refurbished. One of my former

art students (now the current art teacher),

is helping me paint some motifs for the

outside. We are taking all the designs off

the tablecloths that are in our cafe. We

are working on some big cherries now, and

hope to have them ready by the end of

the day.

Here's the link to the vintage tablecloth

website: nanaluluslinenandhandkerchiefs.com

They have great stuff.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Meeting Day

Today was the day that the artists from

the Garden Tour held in Shreveport were

invited to come and sell their work at the

Master Gardener's meeting. It was held at

the Randle T. Moore center, and we were

able to set up in a room next to the meeting.

The gardener's came in and "shopped" during

and after the meeting. I did well, and it was

a good promotional event.

My two colleagues, Judy Horne and Karen

Harrington were also there. Judy paints with

watercolors, and also does painted glassware.

Her husband, Bob, is a photographer, and they

do a lot of shows together. She told me that they

just set up as part of the set of the TV series,

"The Gates" that is filming in Shreveport. There

was an art fair in the script, and they paid them to

set up their booths! We will all have to try and

watch it. She said it was episode 1 and 6. I will

have to set my tivo!

Karen just recently moved and she has a studio

at her home. She teaches and travels too. She

does a lot of shows, and has a lot of her work in

print. She does big, bright splashy watercolors of

lots of Louisiana subjects. Her website is:

artistkarenharrington.com Check it out.

Still packing and getting ducks in a row ....Greece

here I come!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Savannah Swim Final

I think I am finished with this drawing of

Savannah. I punched up the darks, and

added a few highlights. I plan to enter it in

the Natchitoches Art Guild show. I haven't

thought of a title yet, but I have a few in

mind. If you would like to make a suggestion,

that would be great!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Making a little Progress

Still working on this drawing...made a little

progress today. I hope to be finished tomorrow

night.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Savannah Swim

I am trying to finish up a couple of things

that I had started in order to enter some

competitions. I started this colored pencil

of my niece's little girl last summer, and

it got pushed aside by more pressing

projects. I have to have a really good

piece for the annual Natchitoches Art

Guild show in August, and the deadline

for entry will be while I am in Greece!

So, I have to finish this, photograph it,

and send it off before I leave next

Saturday! don't you just love deadlines...

I used to tell my students, "If it were'nt

for the last minute, nothing would ever

get done!" how true

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Sign of the Times

This has been the longest process...I began this

sign order in February, and they hung it today!

We have been remodeling and sprucing up the

building for the last month, and this is one of the

final and most important parts. It turned out

really well, and I am pleased with it. I just

wish I could afford 3 more. It does face the

new highway, and we are hoping to get some

of the traffic as it comes into town. "Lunch"

is probably the most important word up

there! We hope it will help bring some

customers in...we'll see!

Summer Invitation

I finished decorating this wedding

invitation that I received from a

client in South Carolina. The

background is navy blue; it looks

kinda black here. Anyway, I

didn't know what to use that

would show up on the dark

background. I started with

prismacolor pencils and added

some acrylic paint touches. I

will mat it, and ship it out tomorrow.

It seems to me that the invitations

are getting so casual these days. Just an

observation...it was much easier to

decorate a plain cream colored

piece of paper!

For info on painted wedding
invitations:
sheltongail@hotmail.com

Flowers 4x4

Four black and white flowers: a poppy, magnolia,

orchid, and dogwood. I took these photos in

various places. The dogwood and magnolia are

in my yard. The orchid and poppy were taken

at the garden tour in Shreveport. I thought they

would make a neat group.

Speaking of the garden tour, next Wednesday, they

have invited the artists who painted in the gardens,

to attend the Master Gardener's meeting. We are

supposed to bring some of the paintings completed

that day, and offer them for sale. I still have a few

of them, but I will probably bring some other garden

things as well.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Too Cute

Just when I think I don't want to do any

more pet portraits, one like this shows up.

I really enjoyed drawing him, and I hope

the owner is pleased.

For info on pet portraits:

sheltongail@hotmail.com