Arabian Art

Hello Everyone!
We just received the photos from our Saudi Exhibit in Porto Heli!
Many people came and supported our effort, and the Saudi artists
enjoyed how their art got so much exposure. Hope you like the images.
Regards, Christine

Saudi Embassy Art Exhibition

The Saudi Embassy hosted an exhibit with the
Saudi Artists at the Divani Caravel in Athens.
Many diplomats came and we enjoyed an inter-
national evening. Greek television also broadcast
the event on Ant1 and Net.

Saudi Artists and I at the Acropolis

August Event: Arabian Artwork

emotional and enigmatic

The Prix Pictect winner for 2009, Munem Wasif, made an impression on me with his photographic documentation of the lives of people in a small village in Bangledash. These are people who travel two hours a day twice a day to draw their water...

http://www.prixpictet.com/sustainability/commission/munem_wasif_commission_gallery/

http://www.prixpictet.com/home/

from FLOWER SERIES

Anna Papazoglou is a professional photographer
from Athens. In this series her subjects are found
in the streets of the city inbetween cracks on the
pavement and in otherwise cement-ladden
landscapes. Their mosty small dimensions have been
blown up to magnify their delicate character.
Anna will be in the Athens Fringe Festival this summer
with hand portraits of the event's participants in
an interactive puzzle.

Eco Poster

Here is a poster from a group exhibition

I did for the foundation Evgenidou. They

had week-long seminars and workshops

all to do with learning to care for our planet.

Artists took part in this by making art

that had to do with the theme.

Here is a view of Porto Heli from the shop

Beinvenue 2009

Dear Friends and Family, and All who are Interested:

We Wish you a Beautiful New Year!

You can stop here, or continue to part two:

This is a short letter to summarize our gallery's joys and sorrows and fill you all in our our plans for the new year. For the past year and a half, Blue Fig Art has been growing and taking its first steps. So far things are going pretty well, I mean we are right in line as a new business - it's a complete economic failure. We sold only one painting last year, and that was in Summer (the only time Porto Heli is busy). The shop didn't even officially open until mid-June so the best selling period came and went without taking much advantage of it. On the other side, a lot of learning has been taking place. The first project was to get the empty box with windows to look like a nice full box with windows. We made it pretty much from scratch with a little help from IKEA and Praktiker; and of course, the artists and their paintings slowly made the gallery come to life.

At the end of Summer, we had our Big Opening Night. My mom and I had a big joint party for her new spa too it went really well! I met a lot of artists and potential clients, and it was the night my painting got sold too. I'm finding that one of the best ways to get artists to come to you is by having a Vernissage (gallery lingo for Opening). This year we have a few in the making, one in February, one in April, and one in August.

February's show is all about celebrating the Human Form and I have a couple good artists so far I need just a few more to get the complete picture (haha). One of my artists is Ibrahim BinOmar, who is Saudi. He draws his inspiration from African styles, which is far from the Islamic cultural norm. We met through Sameera Ibrahim, another great person who has been helping either by giving business wisdom, or introducing me to the Arabian art world through her art center. Right now we're working on getting about 9 Saudi artists to Blue Fig Art this summer ( I'm keeping my fingers crossed ) !

Also, this year we will be making improvements to the box. We're going to hopefully get better lighting and internet. We also want to make better ads for the shop and the artists, for instance right now I'm working on postcards with paintings from some of our artists - so look out for one soon!

We wish everyone the warmest holiday season, and I hope that your New Year is filled with miracles and rewarding days!!

Lots of Love,

Blue Fig Art:

Christine Smith and Co.

The Beermans

The Beerman Gallery in Kranidi, Argolidos, was established by Marita and Erwin Beerman more than two decades ago. They use their space for working and showing their paintings that are mostly inspired by the small town, their surroundings and the people of Southern Greece. The Beermans use bright pastels and watercolors, and compose playful simple structures and shapes.


Other than sharing a love of art, we are also all foreigners in the area! Their help has been invaluable to me as they have much knoweledge of the area and people, as well as a lot of practical advice in running a gallery. We have also all spent former years living in Saudi Arabia! They spent twelve years in the western part of Saudi and I spent my childhood in eastern side. Our common interests, and their warm-heartedness have made me feel a little bit more at home...Right now they are in Dubai organizing an exhibit.
Check out their site http://gallery-beermann.4ugo.de/