Chani's Creative Space

After the rain, a dry landscape can be so different: mushrooms and green grass are everywhere, and flowers are popping up.  This will not last, but it is time to enjoy the almost winter, which is mild here. Fortunately, I do not have to travel at the moment, so I can quietly admire the hidden beauty of my place. Pink flowers seen during a short hike in Benalmádena (province of Málaga, Spain)

So close to the Mediterranean Sea, the Torre Ladrones is the highest watch tower of the entire coast of Málaga. I like this place: the tower shines like a jewel, standing alone among the dunes of Artola, near the town of Marbella. Torre Ladrones (Playa Cabopino, Marbella, Spain)

After the flood three weeks ago, the sun is back, but the water we so desperately needed (though not so much at once, of course) is making everything greener than I have seen in 20 years. So it was a pleasure to walk around the little town of Pizarra, in the Guadalhorce Valley, just behind the coast. It seems a lie that we are already in December. Just one month and this year will be over. A wonderful view on our trail (in the background, the Mediterranean Sea). Fields near Pizarra

I have added a new photo to my "Skies" series! Walking along the beach last week, I saw this: Interesting cloud formations at Carhihuela Beach (Torremolinos, Spain)

The province of Málaga experienced extreme rainfall and flooding last week (the phenomenon "DANA" = high altitude isolated depression). Fortunately, our city was not devastated and no deaths were reported. Only our beaches are now full of garbage waiting to be picked up by tractors. At night just after the storm Two days after the storm

Sometimes it is best to walk through a field without thinking about what is happening in the world. No matter what country, everything is scary. My body is in Madrid, but my thoughts are in Málaga and Gaza. Tomorrow will be another day where some people will need me to get some hope and then I will be full of energy again. Tonight I just walk, with a small bird as only company. I wish my husband were here, and my dog too, but they are far away. The wind is picking up, which means it will be dark soon. Path in Galapagar (Madrid, Spain)

Time again to marvel at small things, like a small plant between two large rocks.  Seen in Torrelodones (Madrid, Spain)

This week will (finally!) bring more rain. Yesterday we were near the beach looking at the sky, it was kind of pink with some bolts of lightning. Then a storm came last night (all night!). I cannot stop thinking about this Mediterranean Sea as a connection to my friends in Palest1ne. It is the same landscape, the same water, the same salt.  At Carihuela Beach, yesterday evening At Carihuela Beach, Friday evening

If you did not already know, at once you understand that life does not take place online, but in nature, and that the most beautiful moments are silent. You may hear a bird, a donkey or a dog, but not a radio or a car. If I won the lottery, I would buy a (small) house in Cercedilla , near Madrid, but a totally different world, and I would never leave. Well, I might leave for one month in the winter to go back to Málaga, but no more than that. ;-) Enjoy some pictures of the beautiful nature around Cercedilla! As always, prints and other stuff can be purchased though my website .

Like my dog peering over a moss-covered wall on a hike, I am curious. In the world of art, curiosity is the driving force behind creativity. The ability to see what others do not see, to experiment and to imagine. What did Nubi see or smell over there? I will never know. Probably a whole world. Nubi peering over a wall

Fall is almost here, and that is good. I love the shorter days, the prospect of getting back to standard time (even if it not the time that corresponds to our meridian), eating chestnuts, taking longer walks without dying of the heat. Finding some chestnut trees on the path from Pampaneira to Bubión (province of Granada, Spain)

I wish I could step out of this world and live in a more peaceful place where greed, arrogance, injustice, hate and lies do not exist. Then I could grow some vegetables, adopt one or two more dogs. I would live without a smartphone, or at least check it only once a week. I would have a PC for the sole purpose of connecting with some friends, but not every day, and I would still not have a TV (I never owned one). In a place like this, maybe, but on another planet. Idyllic spot in Bubión (province of Granada, Spain)

It is summer, it is too hot, but we went back to a place that we love, the "Casa forestal" in Alhaurín el Grande (near Málaga, Spain), and we could chill there a bit (forgetting for a short moment all pictures and reports of destroying, killing, suffering etc. we had seen about Gaza, when there is so little we can do).  Two years ago, a huge forest fire destroyed a lot in this area, but this place has been preserved (the flame stopped just above it). Enjoy! The "Casa Forestal" of Alhaurín el Grande View of the valley from above, near the Casa forestal On the way to the Casa forestal

Even in crowded places you can find places where you can be alone, even if it is difficult. I wish I could do something about overtourism, how to convince all those masses not to travel together or not at all, because not only the others are part of the problem.  Yes, living a fulfilling life without traveling much is possible by focusing on small things that bring joy! (As always, prints and other stuff are available through my website). Oxalis in Torremuelle (Benalmádena, province of Málaga, Spain)

At home, on the coast, the only sound of water is the waves, at least we still have the beautiful sea. If we hear water elsewhere at the moment, it is probably being used illegally, and it makes you feel bad to hear how your neighbors are wasting the water that we will need so much later and will not have then. In Pampaneira and the whole Apujarra region, water is omnipresent (the Sierra Nevada is near): fountains, small and large streams... The vegetation is lush, we forgot that it could be so green.   Enjoy the pictures and the video of the río Poqueira!

I love this place where I can be myself, where I can still draw or write with pencil and paper without people laughing at me, where no one steals the silence I need to exist. I wish I could live there all year round; it might be hard in the winter, but 3/4 of the year would make up for it... Of course, when you grow old, you need a certain infrastructure, it is not a good idea to move to a village without proper medical care, shops, buses, etc. At least we can always go back there. A house will wait patiently for us. Oh, Pampaneira, I cannot wait to see you again! A view of some typical roofs of Pampaneira (province of Granada, Spain) A street in Pampaneira, early in the morning (a village without cars!)

In the summer you have to get up early to enjoy the trails and wildlife. Iznájar (province of Córdoba) surprised us again and gave us the tranquillity that we miss on the coast.  The lake was a little fuller than last year, but the drought is still there. Enjoy! View of the lake at dawn Everything is so dry, but the scenery is still beautiful Another view of the lake, later during the day

One of the many benefits of having a dog is that you have to get up early. So you get more out of life. Two days ago, for example, I was able to capture this amazing sky at 7 o'clock in the morning. Without my dog, I would still be in bed, in the shower, or in the kitchen. Today is Midsummer, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere! In Spain, on the coast, people celebrate "San Juan" (as it is called here) on the night of the 23rd, gathering on the beaches, with bonfires, sardines and a lot of drinks. Happy Midsummer to you all! Carihuela Beach at 7 o'clock in the morning

I am happy that summer is not yet there, bringing lots of mosquitoes and even more tourists with their excesses. At the moment I find it a little hard to breathe, noticing the hypocrisy and double standards of our society. I wonder where our values are, even if they were not a chimera from the beginning (which values?!). Nevertheless, I voted today because I think that not voting is worse.  I like the early June wind and cloudy skies. We cannot call the 10 drops we got these days "rain", but I enjoyed them too.  Here are two pictures from the hills surrounding  Mijas Pueblo. 

Sometimes you don't have to go far to enjoy true art  ;-) Seen in the town of Torremolinos, avenida Benyamina (district Los Álamos). If you know the name of the artist, please let me know. I will be happy to mention it here.

The town of Lanjarón (province of Granada) may not be too attractive from an architectural standpoint, but the surroundings will always be breathtaking. For someone who lives on the Costa del Sol, the abundance of water there (the many fountains with their poems on them!) is extremely stimulating; we can only dream of such a landscape here on the coast. I wish I could live there, maybe just for one summer, maybe for a year or two.  View from the ruined castle I am generally not a fan of posting videos, but I will make an exception here to show the panorama from the castle and the power of the water on our trail. Enjoy!

Hike to the oblivion of what your eyes have seen in the news. On the road in Raposeira, Portugal. I have just updated my series "Paths" on my website with this picture of the small road leading from Raposeira to the beach Praia do Barranco   (Algarve, Portugal)

Time flies, May already. I wish I could have posted the last pictures from Portugal earlier. But I had some urgent work to do, a friend was here to visit us, and I had to be at the demonstration on May 1st (it was even more important to be there this year for various reasons). The beaches at the very end of the Algarve (Vila do Bispo and further north) are so wide and wild, breathtaking. If you are not a surfer, it will probably be too windy, but even so, eating a sandwich there (with a lot of sand in it), looking out at the sea, the seagulls and your happy furry friend  gives you a feeling of complete happiness, even in these dark days.  Enjoy! All pictures are linked to my art website. Praia do Tonel (Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal) Praia da Cordoama (Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal) Praia do Barranco (Raposeira, Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal) Praia do Martinhal (Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal)

Wind is always present in some areas, especially along the Atlantic coast.  Wind, birds and rocks.  You are there and find this lighthouse, which is nothing special, but reminds you of many lighthouses that are crime scenes in Nordic noir books. Here, far in the south of Europe, you hear the cry of the seagulls and simply enjoy the song of the wind. Nothing is dangerous here. An exception in these days. View of the lighthouse in Sagres (Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal) Other view of the lighthouse in Sagres

I love small villages with old houses, weathered doors, trees and cats all around. Like in Raposeira (Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal).  Old door and medlar in Raposeira (Vila do Bispo, Portugal) Red door with potted plants in Raposeira Typical narrow street in Raposeira

There are many places that I would like to discover, there are some places that I would like to return to, and there are other places that I can visit over and over again, once or twice a year, without getting bored and always finding something new to marvel at. One of those special places is the small Spanish town of El Escorial, near Madrid, with its royal site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (World Heritage Site), but most of all, its park and gardens. (With my family close by, I am even obligated to be there twice a year ;-) For someone coming from Andalusia, it is so green and quiet. Yes, even with the tourists, if you take the train early enough.  Here some impressions from the park. Enjoy! Flowers in El Escorial Some fallen catkins in El Escorial Quince fruits on the ground in El Escorial Rock and moss  in El Escorial Moss on a wall in El Escorial