Chani's Creative Space

Dear friends, I am glad that this year is coming to an end. It was a tough year for me and, I know, for many of you too, who lost a dear family member, the best dog friend, got injured, did not get enough work during weeks or too much work at once that made you break down...  It was a year where populist decisions were made in several countries and at different levels. I wish I could live in a bubble or on a cloud or somewhere else in order not to suffer, but it would be too easy, wouldn't it?  But 2019 did also offer me beautiful moments. I have been creating art, translating many contracts and general terms, training aikido, and learning a lot about mindful nutrition, zero waste, Swedish cooking, Icelandic sheep grazing, Kenyan songs and Tanzanian nature. I hope 2020 will bring us serenity, solidarity, prosperity, and peace. I wish you and your families happy holidays and a healthy, prosperous and peaceful New Year!

On @Animaloonies, on Twitter, the year 2019 is already over because we have drawn our 12 animaloons (posted on the second Tuesday of each month). 2020 will bring more of them, the next one being a mythical creature to be posted on January 14th. My favourites are the Foxloon and the Badgerloon because they really look happy . Enjoy! January: Dragonloon February: Leopardloon March: Hedgehogloon April: Foxloon May: Skunkloon June: Beeloon July: Snakeloon August: Monkeyloon September: Squirrelloon October: Owlloon November: Badgerloon December: Ponyloon

I walked to the centre of Torremolinos again to take some photos of the Christmas lights. The evening they were switched on, it was too crowded and there was too much noise (groups were playing music on the street. Well, nice music, but the amplifiers were too loud to my taste).  I was surprised about the sleek design of the lights. And I had a quick look into the Pasaje Begoña , that slowly awakens to a new life (some information about this place can be found on two pictures below).  (I do not know the name of the artist of the appealing wall-painting. If someone knows more, please do inform me so that I can mention it here. Thank you). Here my impression of my strolling in this December night. Enjoy! On the main pedestrian square:   In the Pasaje Begoña:

Days are now short, but nights are full of light. Festive lights are inviting us to the city centre, probably to do some shopping (again! It is always bargain-hunting season), but I am just walking between shops and poinsettias without any cent in the pocket, looking at the people sitting there with their dogs playing together. In a world that is made for potential clients and business, it so nice to be free! Holiday season

In one month, holidays will be here and a further year will almost be over, I hardly can believe it! This year is a though but an enriching one, I will summarise a bit at the end of December.  Rain finally came this week, not enough, but still. Now the sky is blue again, we could spend the whole weekend outside, listening at the waves and the seagulls in our favourite bay. Whirl

Please do not talk to me about politics today. I do not want to see flags anymore, I do not want to hear more slogans. I let my conscience be my only guide: my hands will keep collecting waste, planting trees, and saving animals.  I love the sand I take with me on hikes and the sea I hear at night when the storm approaches. Sands and water

It is exceptionally hot here, 30 ºC today, November 1st! We desperately need rain and fresher weather (and tranquillity), even if it is fine as it is for restaurants, ice shops, and tourism in general. The last days brought us spectacular sunrises, like this one I could immortalise a couple of days ago. Enjoy!  Short before sunrise in Torremolinos

Finally, we could change our clocks back last night, a little step to return to our natural rhythm, still not being in the right time zone (that would be GMT for Spain, not CET). I sometimes wish I could live in Portugal... It is too early to get excited about Xmas and New Year already, but it is nice to think about the free days we will have in December. I like this time of the year, when anticyclones bring us bright and cool autumn days.  Sleepless Corn field

Time is flying: another half alphabet - Birds - is finished this week at @AnimalAlphabets on Twitter! Here are the first 13 letters. Again, I have been learning a lot painting those birds. I did not know some of them at all!   Here a small collage with letters A to M. My favourites are the Dalmatian Pelican and the Mandarin Duck Enjoy! And - it is still not too late to join if you like: post every Monday evening at 7.30 pm GMT.

Here are four pictures of our second home town el Puerto de Santa Maria ("El Puerto" in short, province of Cadiz, Andalusia, in the very South of Spain), just to show you the atmosphere there. Unfortunately, I cannot let you neither smell the salty air nor feel the wind. I could have spent a whole week walking there in town. Now we have to say good bye until March or April. It was time to update my statement of 2012 (!) for my website on Fine Art America .  My new statement is a bit shorter:  The world with its differences fascinates me. I find inspiration in cactus gardens, on sandy beaches or rocky cliffs, among animals and in old towns in ruins. Abstract paintings and landscape photography are two sides of the same artistic eye that is putting up resistance and often lurks in the twilight.

It is still warm but days get noticeably shorter now. I enjoy most this time of the year, where we generally can visit El Puerto de Santa María again, our "second home" (even if we do not possess anything there) at the Atlantic coast. Evenings there smell like salt, fish, mud; music of violins and guitars accompanies the wind whistling through palm tree leaves. Nights are a mixture of joy and melancholy.  Wind, waves and tide

I finally had some time to show you some pictures of the beautiful nature near Saint-Chamond (Pilat Regional Nature Park, Loire Department in Central France), taken on a hike near the peak Crêt de l'Oeillon.  Loire is a quiet department, with forests, hills and mountains. Mass tourism is absent there. So e njoy! Looking at the valley Path to the Crêt de l'Oeillon Sheep near the Crêt de l'Oeillon Heath land near Crêt de l'Oeillon Clathrus archeri Amanita muscaria

It has been a long time since my last post. I have been on holidays and back at work, worrying about the forest fires in Southern France (not too far from the place in the countryside where we spent 10 days) and the flash floods in South-Eastern Spain (we knows this area quite well, we used to be there for New Year and sometimes also in September).  Therefore, I did not want to let this climate strike week passing by without expressing my my support and my concern. I want my government to act, finally .  Save the planet

August is coming to an end today and so the challenge #Waugust (and also #doggust). Thank you to @Meerhund and @kritzelich for setting up this; it was a good thing to have a goal every day and also discover the colleagues' creations. Here a collage with all of the dogs I drew with Indian ink during the month. My favourites? Nicki and the Utonagan, maybe... Missing (ideas for next year, who knows?): boxer, greyhound, bulldog, and so many more. Enjoy!

Every year in Au gust, fire is probably what we fear the most. I hope that the different fires in Gran Canaria, Estepona, Marbella (and I am certainly forgetting one or more) will soon be declared extinguished for good. And I will be glad to see the first rain in October, to put an end to all this.  Extinguishing another fire

#Waugust: it is half-time already! As so often on Twitter, I learned about the challenge #Waugust rather by accident: I knew about #drawingaugust but was not planning to participate this year, too much work and heat... But #Waugust (drawing one dog breed per day until the end of the month) sounded exciting because I love dogs, a silly dog owns me and I will be a dog if I reincarnate one day (N.B. in German, "wau" corresponds to "woof in English, making of this hashtag a combination of barking noise and name of the month).  After one week or so, we heard that similar challenge, #doggust, was running in English (with another breed list)! So I went on posting one dog per day using both hashtags from then. Here my first fifteen dogs, all drawn with Indian ink. Some are better than others, they are all only quick sketches. Enjoy! My favourites are Nicki (the "dog of my dreams"), the husky and the fox terrier: