From Rijeka, we follow the coast road down trough Opatija and Lovran, enjoying the old Austro-Hungarian buildings and gardens, and the views over the Kvarner gulf and the islands floating out there. Although it’s around midday, the clouds are still dark and heavy after the storm, but we can see it clearing as we head…
As we walk around the island, my eye is often caught by interesting details – arrangements of colours or textures that are like small pieces of art in the landscape. Some simply occur naturally, such as weathered rocks or tree bark, while others are the result of human activity (good or bad). Here are a…
As part of Hvar’s Advent celebrations, everyone was invited to visit the Arsenal Theatre to see how the restoration works are progressing. It’s been closed for performances since the 2004 season, so we’re talking about a 14 year project so far, now hopefully coming to a successful conclusion, with a grand opening possibly in the Spring of 2019. Really excited about that, as it should include regular art exhibitions in the gallery, also on the same floor.
Our final cultural destination in Istria (at least for this trip) is a visit to the truly wonderful frescoes in Beram. These are not in the parish church in the town centre, but in a tiny chapel in the graveyard, just a little way out of town. This is the church of St Mary on…
There are wonderful abstract compositions everywhere you look. Many times on our walks around the island my eye will be caught by some object which just begs to become an artwork. So I’ll take a photo and sometimes the ideas will show up in my paintings as patterns of colour, or shading. The best images…
While I’m on the topic of art to see on Hvar, I must also mention one of the most beautiful art studios that I’ve ever been in – Marinka’s very creative and inspiring atelier in the village of Dol. This is a place to come to enjoy her art, and that of Marin Ribarić, but…
It’s so good to see a contemporary art exhibition on Hvar – such powerful artwork, beautifully presented. As part of the Hvar celebrations of 150 years of organized tourism, we have “In the Summer”, selected works from the art collection of Dagmar Meneghello. It’s on at the Gallery Arsenal in Hvar, 27th June to 7th…
The village of Vrbanj is home to Frane Abramović, and his ceramics studio. Through the Udruga Varbonj society, he organizes an international ceramic art colony each summer. Ceramicists from around Europe participate, and an exhibition of their work from last summer, “Varbonj 2017“, is on now in the Zvijezda Mora church in Hvar (Open: 21st…
Our lovely stone courtyard is turning green for summer, slowly but surely. It’s a different kind of gardening than I’m used to, involving more hardscape, pots and quirky artwork, but it’s looking good for much less work. We really enjoy sitting out there and we have visiting bees and toads and geckos, so it’s working…
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…
Go Hvar 
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