autumn nostalgia 40x40cm

Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word nostalgia is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of νόστος (nóstos), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "pain, ache", and was coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxieties displayed by Swiss mercenaries fighting away from home. Described as a medical condition—a form of melancholy—in the Early Modern period, it became an important trope in Romanticism.

Nostalgia can refer to a general interest in the past, their personalities and events, especially the "good old days" from one's earlier life.

The scientific literature on nostalgia usually refers to nostalgia regarding the personal life and has mainly studied the effects of nostalgia induced during the studies. Smell and touch are strong evokers of nostalgia due to the processing of these stimuli first passing through the amygdala, the emotional seat of the brain. These recollections of our past are usually important events, people we care about, and places where we have spent time. Music and weather can also be strong triggers of nostalgia.

 ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia

nightview of Thessaloniki 40x40cm

Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη), also known as Thessalonica or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia, the administrative region of Central Macedonia and the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévousa), literally "co-capital", and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa) or "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, alongside Constantinople. Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the rest of southeastern Europe; its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general, and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora. Thessaloniki is the 2014 European Youth Capital.

the sleeper 70x50cm

The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe

At midnight, in the month of June,

I stand beneath the mystic moon.

An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,

Exhales from out her golden rim,

And softly dripping, drop by drop,

Upon the quiet mountain top,

Steals drowsily and musically

Into the universal valley.

The rosemary nods upon the grave;

The lily lolls upon the wave;

Wrapping the fog about its breast,

The ruin moulders into rest;

Looking like Lethe, see! the lake

A conscious slumber seems to take,

And would not, for the world, awake.

All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies

Irene, with her Destinies!

haze 70x50cm

The secret island had looked mysterious enough on the night they had seen it before - but now, swimming in the hot June haze, it seemed more enchanting than ever. As they drew near to it, and saw the willow trees that bent over the water-edge and heard the sharp call of moorhens that scuttled off, the children gazed in delight. Nothing but trees and birds and little wild animals. Oh, what a secret island, all for their very own, to live on and play on. [Enid Blyton, The Secret Island]

the goldfish's kiss 90x70cm

... farewell to Hamburg..., I am about to move back Home, back to Greece. Back to stay!

I am neither happy, nor sad;

I am both happy, and sad;

I do not know, really

and

another thing I do not know is how exactly the way I feel affects my paintings and effects on them...

This is the last painting I am painting here, in Hamburg. Here where I actually started this blog 1.5 years ago!!

My next post will be sent into the ether from further south.

... farewell to Hamburg...[A.R.]

clouds of war 70x100cm

Clouds hanging heavy over a sky of lead, travelling over sea and land, over mountains and valleys. War is showing its ugly face and seeks admittance in our midst! Are the strong failing, is it time for a pole change or is it only a moment in time that will be soon forgotten, is it just a flicker or the first signs of a raving jungle-fire?

When choosing sides is everybody clear, I wonder, of their objectives and maybe as, if not more, importantly of the objectives of their potential ally?

Can't the struggle just take a break?[I.R.S.]

countryside, mother 40x30cm

Countryside, how relaxing and exhilarating it actually is to walk through the countryside, where the air is fresh and the sun is pure. Light and shadow dancing among the grass and the trees. [A.R.]

mother 35x35cm

This is the 2nd derivative of "Demeter - mother earth 35x35cm", the idea is to create further derivatives until I feel satisfied that every aspect is covered. I tried this approach also with the "old lady night 30x60cm", with a series of four. Lets see how this turns out... [A.R.]

Demeter - mother earth 35x35cm

Η Δήμητρα (Δημήτηρ στα αρχαία), στην ελληνική μυθολογία, ήταν η θεά της καλλιέργειας (δηλαδή της γεωργίας), αλλά και της ελεύθερης βλάστησης, του εδάφους και της γονιμότητας αυτού. Κατά συνέπεια θεωρείτο και προστάτιδα του γάμου και της μητρότητας των ανθρώπων. Ήταν Ολύμπια (κύρια) θεότητα.

Το όνομά της προέρχεται από το Δη (δωρικό τύπο του Γη) και το μήτηρ και σημαίνει μητέρα γη. [Α.Ρ.]

Demeter (Δήμητρα or Δημήτηρ in Greek) was in ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of cultivation i.e. agriculture, but also of the free vegetation, of the soil and of the fertility. As a consequence she was also considered the protector of marriage and of the motherhood of people. She was an Olympian (main) deity.

The name comes from the De (Δη) (Dorian version of the word Earth) and the meter (μήτηρ = mother) and means mother earth. [A.R.]

Nord-Ostsee-Kanal view from Gut Warleberg Obstcafé (Kiel) 70x50cm

It was summertime in northern Germany (yes summertime exists there too, although not many people know that, lol) we were together with a couple of very good friends in Kiel. They took us for coffee and cake to a Obstcafé over-viewing the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Gut Warleberg Obstcafé) not only was the range of the berry and cherry cakes divine but also there was room for the kids and the view was incredible. This view inspired this painting, which in the gloomy darkness of Hamburgs early winter I felt the urge to paint. [A.R.]

moonlit night 60x60cm

In folklore, moonlight sometimes has a harmful influence. For example, sleeping in the light of a full moon on certain nights was said to transform a person into a werewolf. The light of the moon was thought to worsen the symptoms of lunatics, and to sleep in moonlight could make one blind, or mad. Nyctalopia (night blindness caused by a lack of vitamin A), was thought to be caused by sleeping in moonlight in the tropics. [Wikipedia]

gloomy day 40x40cm

A gloomy day under a liquid sky and the path as it transforms into a hazy line that could be water. The mist gives to the scenery a shine that the approaching darkness steals away. The only fact is after all time itself. It is late, too late; the mighty night will cast all illusions into oblivion, into darkness! [I.R.S.]

Athens city lights 30x24cm

Countless lights flood the night and guide us through Athens, the city that never sleeps. [A.R.]

Big Sur 24x18cm

After painting "on the road 24x18cm" & "on the road again 24x18cm" the time we were in Monterey (California) was all I could think of (Hey, Stephanie). While there one of our favorite pastime activities was to drive southwards the 'Highway 1' to Big Sur. Along the road walked by Jack Kerouac, and used as the title for one of his books. [A.R.]

on the road again 24x18cm

Well, I'm so tired of crying
But I'm out on the road again
I ain't got no woman
Just to call my special friend
You know the first time I traveled
Out in the rain and snow
I didn't have no payroll
Not even no place to go
And my dear mother left me
When I was quite young
She said, "Lord, have mercy
On my wicked son."
Take a hint from me, mama
Please don't you cry no more
'Cause it's soon one morning
Down the road I'm going
But I ain't going down
That long old lonesome road
All by myself
I can't carry you, baby
Gonna carry somebody else
[Canned Heat, On The Road Again]

on the road 24x18cm

"Dean and I were embarked on a journey through post-Whitman America to FIND that America and to FIND the inherent goodness in American man. It was really a story about 2 Catholic buddies roaming the country in search of God. And we found him." [Jack Kerouac]

lady night 4x 60x30cm

 

Yesterday I dreamed of the night. She was a lady in white. The dream though kept repeating and changing with the phases of the moon as if phases of mood. The succession of my dreams shows my inner belief that the night is all but black and white. [A.R.]

lady night part I 60x30cm

this painting is the first of a series of four,

in different colors, that I intend to paint.

Yesterday, I dreamed of the night, as a lady in ... white... [A.R.]

circus tent 50x70cm

Especially made for my boys' room! [A.R.]

lighthouse door 50x50cm

Doorway to a world of hope and light, where the brave are being warned of the darkness ahead... [I.R.S.]