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July 14, 2006

Cyprus 2

Even though I am more set up for casual blogging out here in Cyprus than ever before, the very ease of it seems to be stopping me doing it every few days as I did last year. Then, I had to take my bulky DV cam up to one of the excruciatingly slow internet cafes and try to do this blog. Now, with my own little apartment, my powerbook, wireless broadband and a dinky digital camera, perhaps it is all too easy.

Anyway, here is a blog. With lots of pictures. So don't complain!

So how have things been going? Well after the rain there was more rain in Limassol (very quick but heavy) and overall the weather has been a lot cooler, windier and unpredictable than any of my previous visits. The group of students swelled in size at the start of July and this weekend about 8 of the original students are leaving and a new group will arrive. I have not been socializing with them as much as in the past as I am definitely the staff chappie here this time with my own bohemian flat and no Grahame and Liese. I have found it more difficult to get into a working groove this time too. It is perhaps all too familiar from last year and needed to find fresher stimulus to get my mind and brush going.

I continued in hope with painting the beach bathers and did a couple of more worked oils on card which are ok. But not really any kind of breakthrough. it was not until I hired a car last Tuesday to pick up Catharine from Pafos Airport when my visual mind started to get a bit more excited. Before I picked up Catharine I had a day driving over the island. I first went to Lemba (the original Cyprus College of Art) to see the place and Neil who looks after it. The place still looked great and it was great to see Neil. He has a much smaller group but all doing some good work. (Less distraction there as it takes half an hour to walk to the beach). After that I drove over to Polis which is a nice route over some great landscape. I stopped at a little coastal campsite where the water is actually very warm.

So I eventually picked up Catharine from the airport later that day and we drove back to Limassol. I took her to Heros Square, a squalid little part of Limassol where there is an amazing cafe, or at least it does great food for very little money. Then it was off to Dolce, a slinky little funky bar where most of the students were hanging out. Cocktails. Catharine seemed to enjoy her first night.

Yesterday I took Catharine around Limassol and in the afternoon we drove to Aphrodities Rock, a wonderful and dramatic bay where we had a bit of a swim. Then I introduced her to the endurance test of a full Meze meal - 22 seperate items which just keep coming.

So today, Catharine is away exploring while I got on with some painting and think I am making some headway now. We plan to go off in the car tomorrow do get some direct drawing done from the landscape. I have taken hundreds of photograph as well and this year I am determined to carry on with some of the images when I get back to Oxford.

Oh, the world cup? Well my prediction about England was not too far off the mark. Italy? Who would have thought it? In the final rounds it all got a bit disappointing. I actually wanted Germany to win as they played the most exciting football to watch.

Posted by robbie at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2006

Oxford to Cyprus

Well here I am in Limassol, Cyprus again. I have been here a week and have just about settled in. But more of that later.

The last two weeks in Oxford were full on to say the least; the Brookes foundation shows went up and had a jolly private view. Then we had to assess all the work and then I had the humiliation of the external moderator telling me I was too lenient and that I needed more training. My boss also had a couple of retirement dos - She is retiring at the end of the summer. Brookes have only just made a short list of replacements for her post and I was livid when i found out that they are going to interview when i am here is Cyprus. So, by the time I get back to Oxford, I will have a new boss. Terrific!

I also moved out of the room I was staying in Oxford. So thank you Rachel and Michael for making my stay in your house easy and relaxed. This is now my 26th move in my 41 years of life. I moved everything out just before my exhibition at Sarah Wiseman Gallery on Saturday 24th July. It was an all day Saturday opening, so I hung around most of the day at the Gallery, meeting friends and visitors who came along. it was great that Billy and his whole family came from London with their bicycles. They went for a bike ride after seeing the show. I think my work looked fine in the show, but I am too close to it to judge. Catharine came along later in the afternoon as she works on Saturday morning. I had all my stuff for Cyprus ready and packed, so Catharine picked it all up and me and I stayed in Reading on Saturday night, so she could drive me to Luton airport early on Sunday morning.

All was going well on Sunday morning as I was driving in good time to make the airport along the M40 when all of a sudden a pick up truck in front of me lost the inside perspex moulding of its container and it was sitting right in front of me of the carriage-way I was driving. I jammed on the brakes and tried to turn into the inside lane which resulted in the car skidding and not quite missing the debris. I somehow managed to get the car to the hard shoulder. The car was mostly ok but there is something up with one of the wheels when we drove off again. We were both extremely shell shocked for the rest of the journey and were very luck not to be killed.

So I flew out to Cyprus on Sunday and got to Limassol about 7pm. No one was at the college and I suspected they were all out watching the England - Ecuador game in a bar. I was right. Andros, the College and Studio manager, met me a took me out for a simple dinner in Heros Square. I am staying in the flat above the studios which used to be the projectionist's rooms in what was an old cinema. This is where Grahame Parry lived before he moved back to England a few weeks ago. He is the Artists who has run and lived in both the Lempa and Limassol sites for around 14 years. The absence is very noticeable. In fact everything is pretty quiet this year. There are only 11 students and the town seems a lot less manic than last year. The students are a nice bunch; they have all been here for at least a week longer than me as I had to wait until after my exhibition opening.

So what have I done so far? Well I have visited some of my old haunts; swimming by the rocks by the harbour, the beach, Petros cafe for a 'special' sandwich.I did a talk on my work outside in the yard on Monday Thursday night and then we all wnet on the bus to Troodos to see the mountains. It was lovely a fresh this year; almost cold. And then it rained like I have never seen before, so much so that in the cafe I was eating, the rain found its way onto my (half cooked) pork chop. This was the cafe I vowed never to return to last year and it was even worse this year and I refused to pay for my lunch. I have started some small paintings on card but it is taking me a while to get into after the last few weeks of madness. I have moved into an another studio space today as I was not doing to well in the first one I chose. As the world cup is still on, most of the group are watching the games on tvs in cafes around the corner. Tonight is England - Portugal. My prediction, just for the record is England 0, Portugal 2 with Rooney getting injured.

Well here is the beginnings of new Robbie Cyprus work. it is fairly familiar territory from previous year, but they are just me warming up. Hopefully i will be a lot more productive this week.

Posted by robbie at 2:04 PM | Comments (0)