I worked really hard on that project,but the hard work,in my opinion, paid off; I’ve managed to walk a lot further on my Gnostic path by experimenting on brand new and exciting assignments.

Making a study on Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpieces , got me onto a track of understanding the different layers of a painting and above all ,the reasoning and the search for answers on fundamental questions through fine arts, which in my point of view is the definition of art of any kind.

To explain a bit more,by exploring creative activity and what is all about, it had been made clear to me the fact I had shown a significant change in the way I perceive, the way I embrace, the way I endeavour , the way I indicate a subject and this process, as mentioned before, helped me to go a lot further than expected and show a significant advance .

First of all Project 1 in drawing: I would say this is the area I had demonstrated the most progress above all.

I know there can be a debate on this subject but considering my starting point where I had never ever created anything similar to gauche painting and the steps I went up the ladder on this field, I would say I had learned a lots of new and fascinating techniques in order to be able to create a piece on an acceptable level:

I thoroughly enjoyed the drawing process but in that assignment there has been a lot more than just sitting down and drawing :

I have been working in the knitwear industry for more than 25 years . My job, as I was going down the learning curve, has been to create, innovate and demonstrate knitting surfaces. With Project 2 I realized there is a whole new perspective beyond what I was doing so far. To my great surprise, I’ve noticed where in the past I was concluding my job saying my part is finished lets move on to the next project ,I can say now ,that moment in some cases, can be the starting point for something new ;the best part is by reusing the old knit down and whilst working on a ready made fabric I may end up following different rules .What was wrong to do on the knitted piece when the garment had been knitted, could be right after all I had comprehended on assignment 2 and that point can be the annihilation of the new reworked piece with its form and consistency changed and be taken to a whole different direction .Very exciting -thinking-out-of-the-box discovery which can be explored a lot more in the future as its an alternative, an option worth to be considered.

Finally, building a collection having in mind all the multiple aspects of seeing beyond a fabric’s surface, Project 3 had introduced to myself a new way of putting all components together with the exterior on the fabric not be on the focus but in cases to be completely disappeared :

sometimes in layers

other times reconstructed

and some other times certain areas vanish to be replaced with something totally different:so absence creates surface!

Ithaka

BY C. P. CAVAFY

TRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

C. P. Cavafy, “The City” from C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems. Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Translation Copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Reproduced with permission of Princeton University Press.Source: C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems (Princeton University Press, 1975)

It has been a great voyage. I might have faced many difficulties on my way , my own Cyclops, my own Laistrygonians the angry Poseidon,but using the knowledge acquired on my footsteps through ATV I’ve managed to keep my route still and find my way around . I kept ”Ithaca” in my mind and I tried not to rush at all but be patient and with persistence and hard work << with what pleasure and joy I got into harbours never seen before>> and by embracing all the new encounters I had realized what all of this kind of experiences mean!

The journey, is still on…