It’s almost done

Those three words were my mantra when I took the cookery class at Betty’s in Yorkshire – “that’s good Lisa, you’re almost done.”  Bee laughs at me in the studio because I look at a painting and say, “it’s almost done.”  Well, the calendar most definitely is saying to me, “You’re almost done.”  The paintings are drying to be rolled up and carried home.  The photo paper is all used up.  The cupboards are bare.  Christmas is approaching and the desire to nest with family and friends is looming larger and larger on the horizon.  Yup, I’m almost done.
In the meantime, I have been savoring sunsets, hikes, Greek food, and the quiet life I have grown to love.  This week  we hiked up to the monstery of St. Anthony on top of an extinct volcano.  The views across the Aegean to Naxos were amazing.  The brilliant Greek sunlight on the whitewashed walls exhilerated as always.  Munching on Greek Christmas cookies and basking in the warmth of friends and accomplished tasks – a great Friday.

Today I am about to head to the digilab computer and download my pictures so I can bring them home. 
After all the work to learn PhotoShop and process the images there is no way I am going to let them sit in Greece while I am in North Carolina.  I have one more sheet of paper left which will be for our artist exchange next week.  We sign up if we are interested and then make a small gift of our art for each exchangee.  I’m doing smaller prints of a photo of the Paros harbor.  Two months ago I didn’t know anything about my camera or the work behind printing out fine photos.  Now I can just run up the stairs to the lab and get it done!  The downside is that now I need to get a good printer, high resolution screen, and the software.  It’s all in the tools!

Later this morning Mahlia and I are going on a hike to the Delion.  That is the archaeological remains of the temple to Apollo.  We’ve heard rumors you can find shards of ancient pottery and pieces of Parian marble.  The sun is brilliant and the wind has died down a bit from yesterday, so the portents are good for the pilgrimage.  Besides time spent with Apollo is always a good thing.

This is my final painting.  Our assignment was to do an autobiographical painting.  So here I am.  The primamatura (undercoat) is dark purple on a long skinny canvas.  Pretty self-explanatory.  The foreground is Iowa countryside and a straight road leading to a cliff.  The muddled middle should resemble the blue ridge mountains as well as a meandering path through foggy areas.  The horizon line is brilliant and I don’t know yet what it is, but it will be alluring.  Overall is the never ending glory of the heavens.  This particular  cloud is from a picture I took in Galveston when Mark and Rachel spoiled me with a birthday weekend at the beach – this was the sunrise on my birthday when I decided to live without fear.  So here I am – simply put down on canvas for all to see.  It just took my coming here to be able to do it.  What a gift.

Almost done.  I am relishing the last few days.  I am looking forward to the future.  The journey has been marvelous.