I got my first Statement of Accomplishment!!! :)

I've recently (last months) discovered Coursera - https://www.coursera.org/ - I can't tell you how grateful I am for the new worlds coursera opened for me, my learning hunger and my innate curiousity for things I love, don't ask me why.
I started with Introduction to Astronomy and the wonderful professor Ronen Plesser, I just love the guy and his ability to transfer not only his knowledge but also his passion and love for the universe.  Unfortunately, it wasn't to happen!  After the first week I lost valuable time with a pc crash and a heavy program, so I had to stop, for now... Buuuuut, me and many other miserable (at that time) students communicated with him and the course will be up and running again after some time.  I am sooooooo grateful. :)
So, the first course I actually finished is Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life with professor Charles Cockell.  I also recommend it since it is very interesting and the professor is a great lecturer.  And guess what?  I got it with 95.8% success and with distinction, of course!
Now I am running with three other courses and I am entering a fourth in a week.  I may be crazy but I am a happy one. :)

Dancing at the square

Dancers entertaining the people at the square under the sound of popular dancing music.  A nice characteristic event of the days.  A way to lighten our hearts.

Carnival children's play at the main square of Katerini

My friend Dionysia, is a wonderful entertainer and she loves kids.  On Saturday she was a clown at the square entertaining children.

Happy Carnival!!! :)

Woman's Day - part 2

Union of Artists of Pieria exhibited paintings with women or about women at the building of Ekavi.  Some photos below.

A lot of positive comments by a lot of people who came to participate in this event. A lot of smiles also. The whole point though was to remember that women don't celebrate once a year but all year around.  And this is very important to have in mind. 

Although I also heard a complain from a man who told me that it's not fair. Women have women' day, mothers' day and etc., men have no celebration day... I reminded him that there is fathers' day but, as he said, nobody remembers this particular day, which was, as all of these celebration days, an invention of florists. :P 

Women's Day - part 1

The president of the Union of Artist in Pieria, mrs Giota Kazantzanidou, during her speech about the position of women in art.  Women were absent or second behind men when it had to do with the artistic endeavor in a men's world.  Men painters believed that we didn't have the ability to express ourselves through art like this could ever have to do with gender.  Even right now, in some places, women are still thought as not capable of things that are supposed to be done by men.
On the other hand, the president of the Union of Lawyers praised women as artists, mothers, wives, colleagues and in so many other roles, since men also come from women and the worthy can not come from the unworthy.
After the speeches, the music band of the Lawyers' Union filled the air with quality music and songs about the woman. It is so good to see lawyers play music or sing fantastic songs with such beautiful voices instead of pleading at the court.

The lawyer's band in action

And even dancing, tango in particular...

Woman's Day painting

I made this painting in Tuesday and Wednesday, a couple of hours after work of each day, since we set the exhibition on Thursday and I wanted a new painting also.  This one and two older ones were my contribution in this event at Ekavi center of Katerini that celebrated the Woman in many ways. The event was held this Friday evening and it was a pretty successful cooperation of the Union of Artists and the Union of Lawyers whose music band made the evening unforgettable.  Pictures of the event coming up... ;)

Grito Rock painting

This is my contribution to the third day's events of Grito Rock in the city of Katerini. Grito Rock is traveling around the world from city to city covering 300 cities of 30 countries.  During its three days in Greece, two of them were held in Thessaloniki and the third in Katerini. Why Grito Rock to come in a small city? Because we live under the protective shadow of Olympus, the mountain of Gods, and our task this year is Olympus to be recognized by UNESCO as a protected area, our wish is to help the mountain be let alone and its plants and animals, its magnificent ecosystem, keep on living away from the "plans" of some humans, excluding the mountain fans and the wanderers who wish only to visit the mountain for a while, breath the beauty and lighten their hearts.

The Totem

I am proud of it.  It's my third app but it has a unique place in my heart.  I truly truly love it.  And I can write a lot of this loving stuff here, as much as you can handle, till the universe gets too bored and my pc starts to send thunders all over the place and make me send you the next post from the other side.

It's in apple store for some week now and I am still thrilled of the event.  It has to do with our animal friends/guides/protectors/advisers/healers who are with us in each lifetime and help us in various ways and how we can find out our personal totem, how to communicate with it and built a real stable relationship that can change our lives for the better.
We will all gather at facebook totem pages to meet, play, learn and have fun.  I can't wait for The Totem community to start coming alive.  The perfect work of the designer is unique and I love it also.  And at its first update, The Totem will include a matchmaking quiz that will give specific results according to each ones totem animal.

The description I wrote for The Totem says:

"Humans were always connected with animals in various ways from the dawn of our existence. Ancient tribes were driven by their familiar animal spirits to the lands of safety and prosperity. Wise men and women called shamans were communicating with their totems to heal and get rid of negativity. Animals in physical and non physical forms were always helpers, guides, healers and protectors throughout our written and non written history.

Although in our "modern" world we don't usually understand the deep connection and the vital importance of this relation, all of us, deep in our souls, we recognize the need to find and connect with the spiritual guides that appear in different forms. The most usual form is the form of an animal. Any animal can be a totem, but each one has a specific animal that it's the basic totem of this person. Shamans and Native Americans had developed the ability to be in synch with their totems and nature and make the most of their lives.

We don't choose our totem, the totem chooses us. Sometimes we have expectations or specific ideas of what our totem should be. This can only withdraw us from our real spiritual helper. This app is made with respect and love for the spiritual beings that wait beyond the veil to communicate their wisdom and strength. It can help you find the one basic totem that it's your steady companion at least for this lifetime and also help you communicate with him/her in visualization and create a real relation that will change positively and enrich your life in ways you can't even imagine right now.

70 totems were chosen carefully to participate in this test. 100 questions with multiple answers lead to your own totem that waits for you. 5 different question categories search for your totem's attributes in different levels. The more questions you answer, the most probabilities there are to find your true totem. That's why you should start at least from 20 questions. Answering all the questions will lead you not only to find your totem but also to start a fantastic journey of self-discovery since our totems' attributes are in fact very similar to our own. Each totem has special characteristics that make it unique and you will find out that even the most humble animal guide can be an awesome helper and open worlds of wonders for you to travel.

Don't wait any more. Open yourself to the miracle, meet your best friend and make the first step to the wonderful next part of your life."

new exhibition :)

Back in action.  Yesterday we hold the opening of a new art exhibition at Katerini's Art Center - I was there with a selection of paintings from various periods of my life, a retrospective exhibition, and I was glad to hear great reviews. :)
I will post photos as soon as possible. Life is wonderful.  Again!

Apperception

My elder daughter has a talent in making small films (small so far! :P) and I am not the only one who thinks like this.  Although it took some time to forgive her camera for taking me from below in a way that it seems I am talking to the ceiling, I can surely recommend her next small film, where I am not inside (how lucky can you be?!).
It's called "Apperception" and it worths seeing it, not only because I am not there but mainly because it has a message to share.  I would tell you what this message is for me if I wouldn't believe that discovering it is something personal and that new messages can come up in an open mind.
An other good thing is that, although the previous video (with me!) was in greek and a non greek person would need to develop his/her imagination, not to mention intuition, to get something from it, this new one is in english and can save time and mental efforts to be watched...

hey, me on youtube :P

My elder daughter is a student at Aristoteleio University of Thessaloniki, Greece.  Three years now.  And she loves her studies.  Lately, she had to do some videos as lesson assignments.  In one of them she decided to get an interview from me about my relationship with my younger daughter.
I have to admit that we are a strange family.  Although I divorced with both their fathers, the three of us, as a group, we are very close and tight and the fingers of a hand that can easily become a strong fist (well, a fist with three fingers! :P or whatever...) and at the same time being, each of us, very independent and well with each ones separate activities.
The video, although I talk about my younger daughter, shows this element pretty well.  Congrats, daughta! You got it! ...as always, haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzVgkYBWUPs&feature=relmfu

I believe...

I am vegan for years and I support this way of thinking with all my heart.  More than half a year ago I bought a book that I was to read and kept postponing as usual.  Its title is "The Liberation of Animals" by Peter Singer.  It helped the animal liberation movement start as the first ring at the domino chain that created a lot of animal right organizations and similar stuff groups and even helped new laws to come up in come countries about animal's fair treatment.  Today I found it in my library and I felt it was waiting for this moment.  Then I fell on a site.  The text below is not mine but I want to share it. :)

I Believe.....

I believe in Ahimsa and that we have no right to harm other animals. I believe in abolitionism and that we have no right to use and enslave any animal; human or nonhuman. I believe in nonspeciesism and that we have no right to unfair and irrelevant prejudice towards a victim based on species membership. I believe in 'Reverence for Life' and that we have no right to disrespect others as in exploiting, assaulting, and killing. I believe in 'Animal Rights' and that we have no right to deny any sentient animal the fundamental right of bodily integrity from human harm or ownership - as we generally give to all human animals, but need to extend to all other species of feeling, breathing, conscious animals, too. 


I believe in picking fresh vegetables or tree-ripened-offered fruit, and that we have no right to steal our food by believing that barbaric slaughterhouse-sourced animal flesh and secretions are food fit for consumption. Animals are not food. I believe in Truth and that we have no right to wrong others or the planet that sustains all life. I believe in the Golden Rule and that we have no right to do to other animals that which we would not want done to us. 


I believe in Love and that we have no right to exemplify such a lack of love towards other creatures; especially those who would never think of harming us. Humans oppress the helpless – because they can - not because they have to. 


I believe in Evolution and that we have no right to hinder its progress of achieving a more civilized way of living on Earth. I believe in Peace and that we have no right to inflict violence on anyone. I believe in the Vegan Ideal and that we have no right to do anything but to try to live up to it as best we can.  I'm a believer.

http://thevegantruth.blogspot.gr/search/label/I%20Believe....

mushrooms

They look so much better than in photo.  I just wonder if there is a chance to learn how to make good photos of my paintings in this lifetime or I will have to wait for the next... 

Yes, they are mushrooms at the basis of a tree in a wonderful green forest.  I wish you could see their real colors.

oil on canvas

butterfly

Color, color and more color... oh, it's never enough.  I wonder what's happening to me, it's not spring or is it? ...  I keep on disobeying a basic painting rule : never your subject at the center... haha!  I love it!

oil on canvas
6" x 6" (or 15 cm x 15 cm)

the drop

It came when I was having a bad migraine and I needed to focus on something.  I also liked the drop.  But it was just a drop.  And I decided to make it a double painting - two paintings that continue and fit to each other. I loved the result and the effect of rusty sheet of metal.  I don't know if the colors fit to the idea but I like them so much that I don't really care.

The double triangle painting...

 The upper triangle and ...

 ...the down triangle.

Oil on canvas

Painted all sides around with the continuance of the painting.

never trapped

I like this fellow.  It's my drawing option of this little bird that it is so small that can't be trapped in a cage.  He/she will be able to escape his/her phenomenal prison and fly to an other better place.  An advantage of being tiny and fluffy and cute.  Who would want to trap this fellow anyway?

oil on canvas

15 cm x 15 cm (6" x 6")

an other lady bug

I like bugs, especially on leaves.  Maybe it is the contrast between these two supplementary colors, the red of the lady and the green of the leaves.  Maybe it is the freedom this bug symbolizes for me, the freedom and the simple stress free life that I would love to live.

oil on canvas

15 cm x 15 cm (6" x 6")

shake or wave?

This is the hand of my younger daughter Katerina-Io.  It was to be a part of a challenge but I finished it too late for this.  So this is it.  Hmmm, I think I will like yellow again...

oil on canvas

15 cm x 15 cm (6" x 6")

Does size matter?

There is a coan, well known to Tao students that is used, like the other coans, to stop the mind and attain meditation state.  In fact, coan is a question that it seems that it has no answer.  The mind trying to solve the riddle reaches the state beyond thoughts, which is the desirable result.  Of course, this kind of desire is beyond desire too but that's an other story.
Back to our specific coan.  Its question says: "If everything is reduced to its unit, then its unit to what is reduced?"  Here, of course, when we say unit, we mean the smallest part of what this everything is consisted of.  So, if everything is reduced to its unit that consists it, this unit to what is reduced?  Hmmm...
I thought about this coan when I recently saw a youtube video that compares the sizes of different masses out there starting from small moons to stars to galaxies to clusters and going beyond our known observable universe of the 93.000.000.000 light years (omg!) to reach at the end the unconfirmed Omniverse, where no man has gone before and etc... This is too huge for a mind to really think about it and remain sober and sane.  But it is also a reality that we, here, take our eyes from in order to concentrate on our small and insignificant everyday trends like fashion, football and gossip.
The point to all this is that when the video reached Omniverse, I realized that it reminded me of something.  And I remembered... omniverse looks like a cell, yes, a human cell, as I had seen it in biology many years ago. And that was the moment that time froze and the objects around me got a new meaning and I was not so sure about anything in particular.  Because I also remembered the answer to our coan.  And it says: "If everything is reduced to its unit, its unit is reduced to everything"...
I call you to realize what this may mean and start counting from now the uncountable worlds above and below us that may exist this very moment according to a thought that can seize the ground where we stand and remind us that life is alive and extraordinary by nature.

my second app!

9 days ago it went out of the shell and into the apple itunes app store: my second app.  I know I am late to show my happiness for my new born baby but it was a tricky period for me and didn't feel like it.  Now some things have gone behind me and I can be myself again for ...well, I hope forever. :P
My first app was "Ελλαδάρα Quiz" and it was made in greek to test our knowledge about greek stuff in a funny and entertaining way (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/elladara-quiz/id448996047?mt=8).



And now, my second one, "How Greek Are You?" is a hilarious app in english with 100 funny questions and many many funnier answers in our pursue to find each one's percentage of the traditional greek figure.  How Greek Are you? is not to frighten people, some, very few I would say, have no greekness at all and being 100% greek in this app I don't think is the best thing that can happen to a human, but I really love the procedure and it may prove that we have some hidden greekness the way that non greek people, and even greek ones, consider really unacceptable. But we will have fun for sure.



http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/how-greek-are-you/id508367255?mt=8 - this is where my baby born app is about 9 days now and I can't wait now to start my third one.  Sometimes I worry a bit about me, but what the heck: all things are for humans and some of them are excited and interesting and I prefer to jump and swim than sitting at the beach.
Hmm, ok, I may do some break to paint too.  I miss it terribly.