Chani's Creative Space

We had read that the rain would start at 7 pm, but looking at the sky about 6 pm, we knew that our reality would be different. ;-) Calle Trocadero, Torremolinos (province of Málaga, Spain) A storm coming from Málaga, view from the Carihuela (Torremolinos, province of Málaga, Spain)

This year has just started, but it already feels so normal. As usual, I have chosen not to make any New Year's resolutions, preferring to focus on the present moment trying to make the best of it. I do not want to conjugate in the future tense at the moment. We have been hiking on some hidden roads that we knew before or discovered this year, enjoying winter skies and the extraordinary scenery. Valle de Abdalajís (province of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain), road to El Chorro               Valle de Abdalajís (province of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain)          Carcabuey (Sierra Subbética, province of Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain)

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)