Alternative Ibiza?
- Thread starter Stanley Edwards
- Start date
Thank you. It's very important to me that I know people actually enjoy reading this. It gives me a great deal of unfounded confidence
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Here is what Wiki has to say about my very good friend Rania.
I am certain she won't mind what I have already said, but I will wait for herself to tell you about how we met and why we enjoy each others company so much. She will join U75 if I put my laptop in her hands.
Today got better. Two big fat buds of quality from the cannabis association dropped into my hands
I am beginning to believe the better my painting gets, the better my life is going to get.
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Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Great stuff. Don't know how I missed your last 10 or so updates until tonight. Will book my next touristy escape to Ibiza next week. Hopefully catch you there September if you're still around. 
Let me show you around my house 
Centrally located studio apartment comprising of outdoor terrace (to the right), lounge/salon, bedroom. 24/7 free WiFi and electricity. Rent free until March.
Owners are more than happy for me to make use of the place until it re-opens in March. My mate Craig is next door at the trendy gastro bar. Justin the violinist is opposite in my clients shed whilst the building is being reformed. We have 24 hour CCTV. Anyone stupid enough to mess with any of us gets the full force of Three street toughened, no prisoner taking hard fucks. We have never been bothered.
It looks like each painting is going to take a month, so I am looking for a Two year lease on a small industrial unit on the edge of town. Hopefully, help will come from an existing client. Small industrial unit will be converted into studio with kitchen and shower. Beds are very easy - old wooden pallets with cheap mattress. My street mates will be invited to stay also.
I'll introduce you to some of the more interesting street folk here. They come from all sorts of backgrounds with various life stories. The eldest, Christian from Germany has just turned 75. Tough as they come, but very aware that the end is coming closer by the day. He spent most of his working life in the UK on building sites until he was run over by a digger smashing his hip. Compensation payment was enough to buy a small house at the time, but he chose to go travelling. He is fluent in German, English, French, Spanish, Cantonese and Italian with plenty of other language knowledge. Good conversation most of the time, however the odd vodka binge tends to end at the police station, or with him in the gutter after losing everything. He drinks only.
My guess is that over 50% of people living on the streets here are heroin users, or on Methadone programmes. Tranquilisers are prescribed easily here also. I find it incredibly sad to watch. Bright, intelligent people spending their lives begging for the next €5 fix to get them through the next Two hour begging session for the next €5 fix.
My mate Craig is just a drinker. He is on the up. When I arrived here this time he looked as though he was about to die. Got cooking. Got him eating. Got him in the routine of going to Carritas and Cruz Roja everyday. He now looks positively healthy. Has applied for his first passport in 15 years (he has been stuck here all of that time, mostly living on the streets). He is thinking about joining a work programme which operates on an old finca here. And, he is talking about what he might do if he goes home to Manchester. It isn't all about people giving in to drugs and booze. Some can get out of it and find their ambition.
I have a whole day to paint without having to worry about cash. Beautiful day, just a little breezy
Centrally located studio apartment comprising of outdoor terrace (to the right), lounge/salon, bedroom. 24/7 free WiFi and electricity. Rent free until March.
Owners are more than happy for me to make use of the place until it re-opens in March. My mate Craig is next door at the trendy gastro bar. Justin the violinist is opposite in my clients shed whilst the building is being reformed. We have 24 hour CCTV. Anyone stupid enough to mess with any of us gets the full force of Three street toughened, no prisoner taking hard fucks. We have never been bothered.
It looks like each painting is going to take a month, so I am looking for a Two year lease on a small industrial unit on the edge of town. Hopefully, help will come from an existing client. Small industrial unit will be converted into studio with kitchen and shower. Beds are very easy - old wooden pallets with cheap mattress. My street mates will be invited to stay also.
I'll introduce you to some of the more interesting street folk here. They come from all sorts of backgrounds with various life stories. The eldest, Christian from Germany has just turned 75. Tough as they come, but very aware that the end is coming closer by the day. He spent most of his working life in the UK on building sites until he was run over by a digger smashing his hip. Compensation payment was enough to buy a small house at the time, but he chose to go travelling. He is fluent in German, English, French, Spanish, Cantonese and Italian with plenty of other language knowledge. Good conversation most of the time, however the odd vodka binge tends to end at the police station, or with him in the gutter after losing everything. He drinks only.
My guess is that over 50% of people living on the streets here are heroin users, or on Methadone programmes. Tranquilisers are prescribed easily here also. I find it incredibly sad to watch. Bright, intelligent people spending their lives begging for the next €5 fix to get them through the next Two hour begging session for the next €5 fix.
My mate Craig is just a drinker. He is on the up. When I arrived here this time he looked as though he was about to die. Got cooking. Got him eating. Got him in the routine of going to Carritas and Cruz Roja everyday. He now looks positively healthy. Has applied for his first passport in 15 years (he has been stuck here all of that time, mostly living on the streets). He is thinking about joining a work programme which operates on an old finca here. And, he is talking about what he might do if he goes home to Manchester. It isn't all about people giving in to drugs and booze. Some can get out of it and find their ambition.
I have a whole day to paint without having to worry about cash. Beautiful day, just a little breezy
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Good to hear things are improving for Craig.
angusmcfangus
I see no ship's, only...
Did she bring the bike back Stan?
Good to hear things are improving for Craig.
He's well on it
Looking good. Talking sense (he even remembers you). Down to Three, or Four small cans of weak beer a day. Quite happy just reading his romantic novels whilst I paint. The guy has always tried his best to look after me whenever I have been here. More than happy to be able to return a little help.
Bike is now Rania's. Her boss/landlord/lover/
paid me for it. She couldn't let it go. Where's a Dutch girl supposed to go without a bicycle?
Putting textures and details in to see how they affect the bigger picture. May well be finished by the end of the week (weather permitting). I want the finished painting to take the viewer on a journey finding their own story, but I don't want the details to distract from the harmony of the entire thing (the harmony will come - this is still in a very experimental stage even though I have a very clear idea in my own mind. It will change much hour by hour from here).
Set-up in a quiet spot, but this is a small town. I have already been joined by one of the many street folk here. I don't mind them watching me and 'sharing' my beers and food, the problem only comes when too many gather. Local businesses don't like it.
I'm trying to make a line of trees along the skyline drape like a necklace of gems
Set-up in a quiet spot, but this is a small town. I have already been joined by one of the many street folk here. I don't mind them watching me and 'sharing' my beers and food, the problem only comes when too many gather. Local businesses don't like it.
I'm trying to make a line of trees along the skyline drape like a necklace of gems
Cold, wet and windy. Doubt the paints will be coming out today. Study time. Just sit here drinking, smoking and eating cheese triangle sarnies whilst carefully looking at what exactly is happening in the painting. A detail...
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
17th - 27th September are my dates for this year. Should be meeting up with a few Spotlighters (maybe Chelle who you met last year) and a couple of colleagues might join me for a few days - though I suspect they're all talk.
Look forwards to catching up. No doubt I will be here. May take a few excursions in the meantime, and I will be expected to fit into other peoples travel plans at times, but Ibiza is going to be my base for a couple of years. Amnesia, Heart and Pacha are all guest list options
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Haven't made a penny today, but amongst the gifts that came my way...
*Loaf of dark rye bread.
*Selection of tinned fish (mussels, sardines, tuna etc).
*Box of salt & vinegar and cheese & onion crisps.
*Half a dozen mandarins.
*Pot of salmon pate and pot of tuna pate.
*Pair of thick, quality winter hiking socks.
*Serious quality sleeping bag - a gift from a client. She also bought one for my mate Craig who quickly made his way to the shop of purchase looking for a refund
They offered an exchange, so he is now the proud owner of an €80 pair of hiking boots. I am sure my client would only appreciate his resourcefulness!I have to get on the cash making front tomorrow. Looks like rain (or, even snow).
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Snow in Ibiza would be pretty flipping strange, but it seems it has happened before!
Bit of a shitty, wobbly small detail of work in progress. It is dark, cold, wet and windy. It is fucking well horrible TBH. But, hey - I am doing it! Living the dream of an artist in Ibiza
Camera cold and shaky also. People are beginning to see that I'm serious. Painting as an entire thing is coming together very quickly and harmoniously now. Brought the oil and expensive paints out for the first time today. Gonna go fucking crazy with the ultra marine tomorrow. Rain, or no rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Camera cold and shaky also. People are beginning to see that I'm serious. Painting as an entire thing is coming together very quickly and harmoniously now. Brought the oil and expensive paints out for the first time today. Gonna go fucking crazy with the ultra marine tomorrow. Rain, or no rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh dear 
Grim, grim, grim. More uprooted trees. The only people walking about this morning were media peeps recording the damage. All the talk is of the exceptionally bad winter. All building sites are shut down. Few bars brave enough to open. And, the forecast looks pretty bleak until this time next week. I have to make cash. I will think of something.
On the plus side we have just been handed keys to a flat above a posh kebab place. Deal is we have to lock-up the shop at 4.30pm, then open up at 7.30am. Work may be on offer also. If I just do a bit of cleaning, gain their trust etc, perhaps they will pay me to do a bit of sign writing, or painting and decorating. Obviously, I would sooner be finishing my painting, but conditions are simply unworkable ATM and I am cashless!
Grim, grim, grim. More uprooted trees. The only people walking about this morning were media peeps recording the damage. All the talk is of the exceptionally bad winter. All building sites are shut down. Few bars brave enough to open. And, the forecast looks pretty bleak until this time next week. I have to make cash. I will think of something. On the plus side we have just been handed keys to a flat above a posh kebab place. Deal is we have to lock-up the shop at 4.30pm, then open up at 7.30am. Work may be on offer also. If I just do a bit of cleaning, gain their trust etc, perhaps they will pay me to do a bit of sign writing, or painting and decorating. Obviously, I would sooner be finishing my painting, but conditions are simply unworkable ATM and I am cashless!
Progress.
I have introduced a stork. Not sure why, and I know there are no storks in Ibiza (perhaps it is a flamingo. They have flamingos here).
Checked the posh kebab shop for sleeping last night. Where's the catch? What do we have to do? We wake at 7.30am and then what? The place was chaos. It is basically still a building site. Then I saw the staircase. A 3 Meter rise of about 20 solid glass steps. Every single one of them from top to bottom a potential killer. No banister. No handrail. Nothing but a concrete floor below (if you're lucky) to take your fall after catching your head on the corner of a slab of glass. Covered in dust and shit. NO FUCKING WAY AM I SLEEPING IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THE SCARIEST STAIRCASE IN THE WORLD!
So, I am still looking for a shed/industrial unit. I need to buy new white paint also.
Weather is still grim. Cash is very difficult, but somehow I am surviving on gifts.
My mate Craig went for the kebab shop bed option. He was woken at 6.45am and given a hard hat and gloves - "let's get to work". He handed the keys back.
I have introduced a stork. Not sure why, and I know there are no storks in Ibiza (perhaps it is a flamingo. They have flamingos here).
Checked the posh kebab shop for sleeping last night. Where's the catch? What do we have to do? We wake at 7.30am and then what? The place was chaos. It is basically still a building site. Then I saw the staircase. A 3 Meter rise of about 20 solid glass steps. Every single one of them from top to bottom a potential killer. No banister. No handrail. Nothing but a concrete floor below (if you're lucky) to take your fall after catching your head on the corner of a slab of glass. Covered in dust and shit. NO FUCKING WAY AM I SLEEPING IN THE SAME BUILDING AS THE SCARIEST STAIRCASE IN THE WORLD!
So, I am still looking for a shed/industrial unit. I need to buy new white paint also.
Weather is still grim. Cash is very difficult, but somehow I am surviving on gifts.
My mate Craig went for the kebab shop bed option. He was woken at 6.45am and given a hard hat and gloves - "let's get to work". He handed the keys back.
RainWindColdWetRainWindColdWet......................................
Most sane people would have given up by now. I am not sane, and I don't really have an option anyway
I have exactly Four Cents left. Nothing I can do other than wait for better weather and a miracle.
Most sane people would have given up by now. I am not sane, and I don't really have an option anyway
I have exactly Four Cents left. Nothing I can do other than wait for better weather and a miracle.
Winter style, Ibiza 2017.
Note the use of friendly colours and genuine Rayban Wayfarers to set me apart from other terrorists and anti Trump demonstration attendees.
Note the use of friendly colours and genuine Rayban Wayfarers to set me apart from other terrorists and anti Trump demonstration attendees.
Another tree falls. Shame. The developers did all they could to protect the trees, just very unlucky with the weather. Placa des Parc was the only place for me that held any charm here (within contemporary Ibiza town). The trees offered much appreciated shade in summer. I guess new ones will grow in time.
What with all the redevelopment work going on, the maze of ever changing fences around the regular walkways, and the almighty shit weather, everyone is a little down. Not much positive energy about. On top of that I have almost finished the first painting. Perhaps Two, or Three more days. The closer I get to finishing the more emotionally drained I feel. It is a very difficult thing to explain even to other artists, so probably little point in me trying to explain, but it is almost like a prolonged drug come down. When I collect my cash I shall be calling my friend for a countryside picnic, or summat.
An existing client has asked me to call her when I have finished. She wants me to 'explain' the painting to her. I can do that sort of bullshit no problem. If she wants it I will convert the cash into a quality camera to photograph all paintings for reproduction as prints. I have a very solid plan here. Hopefully, she will also help me find an industrial unit - more on this plan later. It is a fucking genius plan
Skint. Mentally down there somewhere. Not painfully so. Just melancholic in a very subdued and harmless sort of way. Good times are very close now. Five weeks away from comfort is my own guess. We shall see????????????????????????????????
On the home run with this one. Still taking longer than planned due to the weather, but that allows plenty of time to consider what next. Supposed to be dry tomorrow. Not a good photograph.
Think I need to move the dog. It is Milo - he is important to the story, so I can't delete him.
Think I need to move the dog. It is Milo - he is important to the story, so I can't delete him.
Slightly better photograph of the painting. Working with laptop webcam until I win the lottery, or convert this painting in to an XT2. Every single penny counts until then. I have got my outgoings down to virtually €0! Surviving quite happily on about €1.50 a day (until I have to buy new paint and stuff). Had to make many sacrifices, but it is worth it - I have totally freedom to work on paintings. Good weather has returned also. Sleeping arrangement should be good for another Six weeks if needed.
I want a large shed/small industrial unit. A Fujifilm XT2, and a Canon A2 12 colour inkjet printer with lots of inks and huge packs of Somerset Velvet paper. Think that is about a €5K dream. Let's say Two paintings sold at good money with a few orders for prints. I have 64 Cents already
I want a large shed/small industrial unit. A Fujifilm XT2, and a Canon A2 12 colour inkjet printer with lots of inks and huge packs of Somerset Velvet paper. Think that is about a €5K dream. Let's say Two paintings sold at good money with a few orders for prints. I have 64 Cents already
Fixed the dog.
This could well be finished tomorrow. Just details, tidying and working the light. It will change much with tiny brush strokes. May even collect cash for the weekend ready to start Goddess Nº2 on Monday.
This could well be finished tomorrow. Just details, tidying and working the light. It will change much with tiny brush strokes. May even collect cash for the weekend ready to start Goddess Nº2 on Monday.
Nowhere near finished. I'm just enjoying myself detailing, working the light, adding texture etc. No rush! This thread has little to do with travel now. It is a small place - not a lot to travel around, but some hidden Ibiza secrets will come this way soon.
In the meantime check-out my pallet
Thanks to a birthday bonus from a very generous friend I can enjoy my day taking a day trip somewhere interesting with beautiful company. There are actually some very special hidden corners still on this island. I could document something like that, or introduce you to some of my itinerant friends and let them tell you how they find work here, and why they find work here. It isn't easy. For next week. Before then I will finish my painting and get it photographed properly, or borrow a decent camera.
Let me know when it is time to end this thread. I could quite happily start another in Art and Photography and Stuff.
In the meantime check-out my pallet
Thanks to a birthday bonus from a very generous friend I can enjoy my day taking a day trip somewhere interesting with beautiful company. There are actually some very special hidden corners still on this island. I could document something like that, or introduce you to some of my itinerant friends and let them tell you how they find work here, and why they find work here. It isn't easy. For next week. Before then I will finish my painting and get it photographed properly, or borrow a decent camera.
Let me know when it is time to end this thread. I could quite happily start another in Art and Photography and Stuff.
I think Holy Sunday falls on April 16th this year which means Semana Santa, Holy week is the 7 days running up to that. I am told that they do processions here, but it is nothing like Granada, or Seville. However, it is still THE BIG holiday week for the vast majority of Spanish people, so it will be busy and prices will rise. It will be lively and fun.
Weather wise, end of April through to beginning of May is rainy season, but it is generally warm with showers rather than persistent wet stuff. There has been so much rain here already this year, so most people are expecting a dry spring, but hey... nature and that. You would be very unlucky not to get good sunny beach days. No more than a light jacket for evenings on the terraces.
Book early - prices will only increase.
e2a; The current redevelopment of the main squares in Ibiza town (Placa des Parc, and Vara de Rey) should be complete by April, but this is Spain. Sure there will be hell if they are not finished!
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My 'studio' and 'home' seems to have become a popular social hangout. Not conducive to painting, but good company is always welcomed. Hopefully, I can introduce some later.
Day off. The weather went a bit shit again. Not too cold mind, and we have a dry den.
On a bleaker note, some poor sod copped it last night. Found dead on a bench just a couple of Hundred Meters away from where we were sleeping. Nobody is quite sure who it was yet. We all know each other but, we are refusing to believe it is the German guy we have been told it was. I have lost count of the number of people I have known here who have died on the street. 9 times out of 10 it comes down to drugs. Specifically heroin Sadly, this is an all to common part of life when you spend as much time on the street as I do.
Day off. The weather went a bit shit again. Not too cold mind, and we have a dry den.
On a bleaker note, some poor sod copped it last night. Found dead on a bench just a couple of Hundred Meters away from where we were sleeping. Nobody is quite sure who it was yet. We all know each other but, we are refusing to believe it is the German guy we have been told it was. I have lost count of the number of people I have known here who have died on the street. 9 times out of 10 it comes down to drugs. Specifically heroin
Sadly, this is an all to common part of life when you spend as much time on the street as I do.
OK.
Beautiful weather is back just in time for my Birthday. Rania has been filming me whilst she sings. She has now gone to the hills to find a quiet place to record a song. I'll post it here later. I am painting symbolic flowers
Think this painting is very nearly finished.
Back to alternative Ibiza: Rania has found a place close to where the club Amnesia is. An old finca with land and teepees. €300/month gets you your own teepee and use of all facilities in the farmhouse. She is joining a work programme operated by a charity organisation. In return for Three hours a day, Five days a week you get €350 a month cash, meals and use of other services. Work is mostly gardening and land maintenance, or sorting donated clothes in the warehouse. She will document all on her FB page - a link will come for anyone interested. It is a good deal - all afternoon and evening you have to yourself to do your own thing, or make other cash. I will visit the teepee site myself once she has settled.
Think this painting is very nearly finished.
Back to alternative Ibiza: Rania has found a place close to where the club Amnesia is. An old finca with land and teepees. €300/month gets you your own teepee and use of all facilities in the farmhouse. She is joining a work programme operated by a charity organisation. In return for Three hours a day, Five days a week you get €350 a month cash, meals and use of other services. Work is mostly gardening and land maintenance, or sorting donated clothes in the warehouse. She will document all on her FB page - a link will come for anyone interested. It is a good deal - all afternoon and evening you have to yourself to do your own thing, or make other cash. I will visit the teepee site myself once she has settled.
