Painting Days in Brela

Sept 25, 2012 Today is considered a painting day for those who paint. The other members of our group, the non-painters, are busy hiking the mountains and taking day trips out of Brela that they found through a local travel agent. We decided to walk along the coast and at the foot of stairs we turned left to see what Baška Voda the village to the south, had to offer. We had heard about a church that was worth a visit.

Lunch was on our minds on arrival. We checked out several cafes but found they were serving what we considered an evening meal; meat, potatoes and aubergine. Baška Voda had a restaurant called ‘OX Fast Food’ so we placed our orders… hamburgers, hot dogs fries and a coke. We climbed up on the bar stools on the patio and enjoyed a little fast food and the beautiful harbor view. Perfect! The clouds were sitting on the Dalmatians, no other way to describe it. On the shopping street, most shops advertised final sales of the season.  Summer was over in Croatia for the Croatians. A perfect time to visit.

September 26, 2012

Our itinerary was arranged as a holiday for painters and friends. This meant that we stayed in one place two days so painters could have time to paint. I was hooked on mini memories so my days were filled with sketching, olive branches, morning coffee, village life and today a walk to “Kamen Brela”, a small rock island north of Brela  that is considered as the symbol of Brela. Joyce walked with us but decided she would stop and watch the photo shoot of a wedding. She told us to take our time, she would be waiting, right where we left her. We continued on to the little rock island where we got very involved in painting. When we were finished we returned to where we had left Joyce…no Joyce.

Oh well she probably headed back to the apartment so that is what we did. We climbed up the 100 stairs to where others in our group were painting, but no Joyce. Back along to the village and to where we had left Joyce. No Joyce! I looked out to the sea wondering out loud, where she was, and there on a bench was a circle of stones with a stone in the middle. Joyce had gone home! Joyce and I are both members of Girl Guides and Lord Baden Powell included in our program trail signs. Many, many years ago we had learned these signs. Amazing that we found her message and even more amazing that she left it.  We had missed her on our search as she was shopping. For those who share our Guiding background I am sure you are smiling. 

I hope you are enjoying my mini paintings and my verbal description of the day. Croatia is a wonderful country a great place to visit. More to come next Tuesday.
Please leave a comment...  the way to do it has changed, again. I believe it will be easier now as you do not need to have a gmail address etc.

Our trip on the Minnow...

On Sept. 24th 2012, Our day trip was to travel out of Brela Harbour to visit the islands. You can travel along the coast of Croatia from top to bottom by ferry, a great way experience the coastal islands of Croatia.  The ferrys stop at the islands you can't get off unless this is your destination but cars and people come and go at each port.  We did part of this trip on our last visit to Croatia when we travelled from Spit to Dubrovinik.  This year we decided to give a small boat out of Brela harbour a try. We just wanted to visit some of the islands and this is a good way to do it.  

Our boat was the 'Murter'. It arrived late as it had engine trouble. :(  The weather was looking a little iffy. We had been dealing with Bura winds for the past couple of days but the sun was up there in the sky so we boarded along with about 100 other people all ready for a great adventure. Lunch and wine was included in the price.  

We travelled to Jelsa on Hvar and Bol on Brac, both wonderful stops, full of history. I had a chance to capture a few of my minis, seen here. Our return to Brela was certainly an adventure. This is when we changed the name of our boat from the 'Murter' to 'The Minnow'. Depending on your age you will remember the tv program Giligan's Island.  At the time it was rather scary but now it is just an exciting memory. Our 'Minnow' made it back to port (even though the rough sea did not allow us to stop in Brela) safely and the captain arranged for a ride back to Brela for us by cab.  I wish I could have caught the swells and the sound of the passengers as each wave hit the side of the boat in my paintings but my little sketch book was hidden deep inside my waterproof jacket so I could share my trip on the Minnow. 

Let me know what you think? Please leave a comment. 

"Painting Memory"

We're just back from a wonderful artist's holiday in Croatia. After reading a great article about an artist travelling on the TGV out of Paris who recorded his journey in "memory paintings" - minitiature watercolours - I decided that I was going to give it a try. The first chance to do this was enroute between Brela and Mostar. Let me know what you think. Yours in travelling, Nancy.

This was so  exciting. I had to work fast. What I saw was not always what ended up in the painting. The bus trip which was approximately 2 hours seemed to be only seconds. I did take time to take a few photos but this was the way I recorded my journey. I was hooked!