Chani's Creative Space

I wish you all a happy, healthy, creative, and peaceful new year 2023!  What is this new year supposed to bring me? Just a life that is going on, like after getting your black belt at dan gradings or your university diploma once the finals exams are taken?  Tomorrow will be different, but still the same. After all, it is just a date. I cannot help thinking that, if we had stayed in Tehran in 1997 instead of going back to Germany, we would have 10 Dey 1401 today, and 11 Dey 1401 tomorrow. Just another day of the same year.  Hopefully 2023 will be a normal year. Finally. "Normal" as I understand it, not the media. On the other hand, why should it be so different from 2022, with the people who govern us, within the system I am forced to live in? Still, I hope I will be allowed to continue training in the silence of the dojo, watching at animals, discovering plants, mushrooms, and moss in the nature, far from the noise of our ever-expanding cities. Ohhh. I found moss, that ge...

I love the darkness and the light, the empty streets of the old part of the town when the wind is blowing and the few people who are still outside all have a dog. I wish you a Happy Solstice and Happy Holidays! Yesterday night at the Carihuela (near the beach), Torremolinos, Spain

It is hard to believe, but this year is almost over. Again. This means, that 12 #animaloons (inflated animals) have been created, one per month. As usual, we had a lot of fun! Not sure that I am good at this, but at least it pushes me out of my comfort zone ;-) Here they are, enjoy them! My favorites are the Jasconius and the Mole.  January: Jasconius February: Otter March: Wombat April: Beetle May: Lion June: Panda July: Mole August: Flamingo September: Gecko October: Camel November: Boar December: Impala  

The place! We loved it at the first sight, after driving along olive groves during kilometers under a big blue sky. The feeling of getting somewhere you could call or have called home. Extraordinary people. Dogs on roofs, as if they were cats.  The small town of Carcabuey is located at the south of the province of Cordoba, in a nature park called "Parque Natural de la Sierras Subbéticas".  Hiking in the nature, we want more. Coming back the next day. That won't be enough for sure, there is much more to discover, and we'll have to sleep there to enter the library, try local food, look at the stars and listen to owls. Carcabuey (province of Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain), calle Pozo The creek Arroyo Trujillo in Caracabuey Olive groves in Carcabuey (excellent olive oil comes from this region)

Seven years ago, I bought my first sketch book and began to draw in the streets just after purchasing it, in my home town Torremolinos and at several others places, from Salobreña to Coswig in Germany, from El Puerto de Santa María to Portuguese towns of Alentejo. Today, in 2022, I wanted to thank the client in Cramlington, England, who bought a print of my very first sketch, historic flour mill called " el Molino de la Bóveda ". Like other historic buildings in our town, it is empty and falling into disrepair. I have read that it could be integrated to - another - luxury resort in the future, I am not sure it is a good idea. I wonder if my client visited this place him or herself, petted or fed cats on the stairs nearby. In any case, thanks a lot! Old decayed flour mill "Molino de la Bóveda" in Torremolinos (Spain)

At night, streets get a new shine, human misery being swallowed up by the darkness. Gone, the workless or working poor looking in garbage containers for something to eat or sell, the disillusioned people next to the casino, the trash and filth on the ground, the dog waste... Moreover, the construction cranes are silent (you could think they spend the night far from here), and the number of people screaming, arguing, drilling, sawing, blasting bad music is gradually decreasing. I love those dark hours in the fall and winter when my town looks like a better place. Torremolinos (Andalusia, Spain), neighborhood Montemar, calle de la Ermita Torremolinos (Andalusia, Spain), neighborhood Montemar, calle Don Juan Manuel 

Lost in a small village in the middle of a pine wood, near the sea, I saw this singular house that certainly would have long story to tell. ;-) In Alhaja, Puerto de Santa María (Andalusia, Spain)

I already posted a picture of this place (Calle Chiriva at Carihuela Beach in Torremolinos, Spain) in January 2022. Again, a quite ordinary street during the day that can become spectacular with some clouds, like yesterday evening. At night, banality and ugliness disappear, and the town opens itself to the sky. November sunset at Carihuela Beach

For many, fall is synonym of wetter days (rain or something similar). Well, not really here in Malaga province. Some rain was supposed to come, we saw some microscopic drops on our terrace (which people use to call "mud drops"), and that was it. Thus, our trail was on a dry trail this Saturday. I found those snails, stones and burrs, a lovely composition by nature (my dog's fur was full of those burrs after sitting in this area and removing them was no joke).   Snails, stones and burrs

Temperatures are still quite high, so we looked for a new path with shade and water (the Guadalhorce river) near the small town of Álora. We took the new pedestrian bridge near the train station and followed the "camino geológico malacitano" for some kilometers (you can even hike about 13 km to Pizarra but it is definitely something for the winter) . Our path near Álora The Guadalhorce river looked wonderful there, the dog had a swim and I made reality looking a bit different (both photographs are showing the same spot):  

October has been so busy so far. I am now longing for open landscapes that are too wide to get lost in, artichoke fields near Zafarraya or a similar place, with the sun or a full moon as only company. I would hear some dogs barking far away and it would sound like music to my ears. Open landscape  

Last night, the sky was beautiful as so often in the fall but we didn't think it would really rain. This time, rain came. Just a little, but still. For us in the very south, always an experience and a reason to be happy. Sky at Carihuela Beach (Torremolinos, Spain)

Evenings at Carihuela Beach are now priceless, with temperatures about 26 ºC, skies with some fog (still no real rain coming). The light is special, I wish September could last longer, so that I could look, without time limit, at those colourful parasols that would certainly have more than one story to tell.  Evening at Carihuela Beach  (Torremolinos, Málaga, Spain)

A severe lack of rain makes landscapes whimsical. This small channel running parallel to the easternmost branch of Guadalhorce river has got a fierce pink colour that I only know from salt marshes at sunset in Cádiz, Huelva or Alicante.   At midday, yesterday, in Málaga. Málaga, rain water channel

Soon the beach will be mine. Even if I will have to share it with some cats, of course.  And some anglers. But I will hear the waves again instead of the pointless loud music of the bars. Dog at Carihuela Beach (Torremolinos, Spain)

I am so happy that autumn is finally here, the crowds having (almost) completely disappeared overnight. Hopefully their rubbish will be removed soon now before it goes into the sea (but who cares about the environment - here and elsewhere?).  Now we will be able to find some sleep again (maybe). I'll be listening to the wind, the murmur of the waves and the lonely owl that visits us almost every night. Fall perspectives

Looking at the sky from commercial centre Plaza Mayor in Malaga, Spain. I was there this morning shortly after the shops opened, and was out again twenty minutes later (I hate being in shops, but sometimes you need to go). Sky in commercial centre Plaza Mayor (Malaga, Spain)

This year, we went both to the south (while still living further south) and the north of the Iberian Peninsula, and some landscapes looked so alike. So, I could complete picture series on my Fine Art America website  - I haven't finished yet. The first two photographs are from northern Spain (Asturias), the last two from southern Portugal (Algarve). It is the same Atlantic ocean. We can only dream of such wild and green beachs here on our concrete coast. Enjoy the colour of the water and the greens! Near Gijón  (E) Near Luanco  (E) Near Praia da Luz   (P) Near Praia de Mós  (P)

Living in South Andalusia, seeing only dry, overheated grass and no water in many streams at this time of the year, I had almost forgotten the colour green and its smell: the lush colour of the grass and moss and lichen. Here some close-ups taken while hiking. We saw similar plants last year in Central Sweden, some pictures could have been taken even furth north than Asturias! Those refreshing pictures are available in my gallery Moss and Co on Fine Art America. Enjoy!

My steps take me to the north of Spain, Gijón, Asturias, where the grass is still green despite the heat, where streams deserve their name because I see water in them, and moss, and ferns (pictures of those will follow in later posts). I discover narrow streets and a cry of rage that could have been mine. In the city of Gijón (Asturias, Spain) Narrow street in the historic centre of Gijón Entry of the museum Museo Ciudadela de Celestino Solar in Gijón (highly recommended!) "Mental health matters" (will governments understand this one day?)

In peak summer, if you do not have any sea, river, or lake nearby,  the best way to cool off  is bathing in a fountain. ;-) Like they do in Basel. Like I used to do many years ago, in other cities too, with all my clothes :-) Bathing in a fountain

There were a lot of sheep in the sky here in Torremolinos yesterday at 8 p.m. Time to take a deep breath and go into internal exile.