That Monday was another studio day!
The next morning, I went back up the morning at tortoise time as I figured it couldn’t hurt to get some more tortoise photos, and I was still wanting some more hoopoe shots - I had seen the hoopoes out at both late afternoon and early morning, so I thought I might as well attempt both at once. I indeed got some more tortoise images, and then spotted a Eurasian jay from afar. After some time wandering and watching, I then found a hoopoe to photograph and with time, this one let me get relatively close for a spell before flying off. Then either another or the same Eurasian jay showed up in a tree above me. After that, I found another (or a previous) hoopoe, and this one seemed to truly understand what I was about. Occasionally, an animal I encounter seems to get that I’m not a threat in any way and am in fact someone they might want to show off for. After we spent some time together, this bird made direct eye contact with me and then sunbathed, which when performed by hoopoes has led to some long-term misunderstandings by ornithologists and bird enthusiasts due to their remarkable behavior. They spread their wings and flop onto their stomachs, and then recline their head all the way back until they are worshipping the sun. It is WILD. I am reserving my photos as I plan to paint and I think sharing reference imagery kind of spoils some of the magic in my artwork, but you can google it! As I was leaving, I met Giselle the puppy again, and she was determinedly enjoying herself despite her owner being several hundred meters away yelling for her to come. I gave her a swift cuddle!
That evening, I went with the other art professor to see a "new artists under 40” exhibition, and we met up with the other, former artist in residence (who stayed beyond her residency to vacation) and had dinner and visited a new-to-me neighborhood.
On Wednesday, I spent time in the studio and then attended a different, massive contemporary Athenian exhibition (50 curators were involved!) in the evening. Then Thursday through Sunday were all studio days since I knew I was going to be spending some significant tourist time in the following week.
The images in the below gallery are Giselle, and some photos from the second exhibition I attended!
