We’ve been thinking for a while that as people living on an island, we should have a boat. Especially here in Vrboska, with its long tradition of boat-building and fishing. To that end, we’ve recently signed up for the Royal Yachting Association’s Day Skipper course, which involves an online theory part (in progress), and a…
There we were, just getting ready for our afternoon walk, when there was a rumbling and deep thump, as if a heavy construction truck had hit the side of the house. The floor noticably shook for a while, then quiet. I waited for a second shake, but nothing more. Must have been pretty close, then!…
I love painting rocks and water- it’s almost as good as a walk by the seashore on a day when I can’t get out there myself. Physically I may be in my studio, but mentally I’m on that path around the headland on a sunny day in September! Today, my reference photo is chosen for…
One sunny afternoon recently, we took ourselves out for a walk after lunch. We hadn’t thought to go exploring new trails, only to take a roundabout route up the hill to the nearby 16th century watchtower for the views. But instead, we found ourselves drawn to the shoreline and the water. Our path brought us…
We were enjoying dinner last night with friends in Svirče when the earth moved and rumbled for the second time this week! A quick check online found a recent 3.2 with epicentre off the Pelješac peninsula. No, really, that can’t be what we felt. This was much closer, surely? I was too quick, and a…
Yesterday’s 4.7 earthquake near Vrgorac was heard more than felt in our part of Hvar. The epicentre was about 50 kilometres from here, close to the mainland, just south of Hvar’s eastern tip. I’m sure they would have felt rather more of a jolt in Sučuraj. For us, in the supermarket in Vrboska, it sounded…
In Hvar’s Napoleon Fortress is a seismological station, part of a network covering the Adriatic coast from Rijeka in the north to Dubrovnik in the south. In fact they are all part of a larger international network that is responsible for monitoring earthquakes throughout the entire Mediterranean. Set up in 1973, the HVAR station contributes…
It’s been an absolute joy to spend time with the coastal rocks of Hvar, looking closely into the crevasses and shadows. I notice that as I start each painting, they seem to me more like mountains and I have to carve them up into mere blocks. And what an endless variety of rocks there are!…
It seems that some people can count, and it was noticed in my earlier post that I was only showing #2 and 3 in the rock series. Where was the first one? Well, yes, #1 was a bit of a problem child. As usual when I start a new subject, the first one has a…
Now here’s a challenge – what can you paint with 3 small brushes and a limited range of colours that tends to the cool side? That’s the problem I find myself facing as I completely forgot to bring my usual assortment of brushes! Not only that, but the bag of paint tubes I was depending…
Go Hvar 