Chani's Creative Space

Last week, a colleague thanked me for the "real conversation" we had privately by e-mail. Just a couple of lines, nothing special actually, but... It is true that it has become rather seldom to have a real conversation . It takes too much time.  But answering with whole sentences is something different than clicking on "Like" or "Share", isn't it?  Sometimes, I miss the good old forums... (If you are not very young, you will probably understand what I mean). Nobody had a blog and/or other profiles to administrate. Smartphones and tablets did not exist and nobody was connected permanently to others. But regularly, we were there , together.  There was a wonderful cyberspace between different continents (some of us were living in North and South America, others in Europe, Africa and Asia): we were all meeting there, helping each other and being there for each other .  Of course, real conversations are still possible, also through blogs and social med...

If you have been at the Costa del Sol , you will probably know the marina of Benalmádena, but maybe not the Mississippi Willow paddle steamer as she is moored a bit far away from the shops, bars and restaurants. This old American boat (build in the twenties of last century) is worth seeing though (it has a lot of charming details), even if, sadly, she is now abandoned. I read that she was used for cruises around the bay in the afternoon and as floating bar at night until the end of the nineties. Now, she is inviting to meditation about better times... More pictures of the paddle steamer  here .

Sometimes, I wish I were a painting ;-) As a painting, I would have been in Valladolid two times already. As a human being, I still do not know how this beautiful town in the North looks like. Until the 16th of April, my work Roses  will be in good company at the Café Eclipse in Valladolid.  This group exhibition (all paintings are 30 x 30 cm) takes place in the context of the 6th edition of the " Certamen de pintura Eclipse " organized by Miguel Asensio, himself painter and owner of Eclipse. If you are in this area, you are more than welcome! Where? Café Eclipse, Calle Lope de Vega 1, 47010 Valladolid (Spain) When? Afternoon and evening (from now until the 16.04.2014)

Quite soon, our beaches are going to fill up with tourists (for many restaurants and shops, the season begins tomorrow!)  But at the moment, we can still enjoy tranquility - migratory birds along the beach and in the wetlands, and of a lot of awesome driftwood , witness of many winter storms... More driftwood pictures here . Enjoy!

Tarifa, the southernmost town of Europe - a magic place near to a natural park, with strong winds and endless beaches of white sand, which may disappear under a multitude of multicoloured kites in the summer. I often thought I should dive for a sunken treasure at this place, like Tintin in Red Rackham's Treasure ... Blue sea

Creativity is like walking in a big city without knowing the way and speaking the language. Getting lost between roads and bridges, underground stations and parks. Wondering about traffic lights, shop windows, the smell of the food and the different way of life... Asking yourself why everything goes so fast, when people go to bed and how they manage to sleep. Creativity is something vibrant, intense, challenging - that is, fortunately, difficult to kill . Creativity

When I hike, I always prefer to take small, sinuous paths than bigger ones: there is more probability that I will see animals (birds, foxes, or wild boars...) and less probability that I will meet groups of tourists and find a lot of rubbish everywhere. Every new path in nature and in life means a new adventure, as one does not always know where and how it will end, and what it implicates. This year is one month old now, and I wish we have all discovered a new path to explore, which will allow us to do things better and to do better things ;-) Enjoy! And if you like them, you will find more paths here .