Do you want explore your creative self? Greece is the right country for that! I daily meet people who found their life passion when they moved to Greece and this is one of the beauty with my job. Whether I help people rent or buy houses the most important for Elias and me is to help them find happiness and balance.
Life is a passion and I agree with the greek God Eros: when we feeling passion and desire we are really alive. Do you agree with me? Passion makes you feel really, really alive and we are all potential geniuses if we find our true passion!
One of the things that we are rarely told in life, is that we are creators. We may hear that we are creative but rarely that we are creators and our lives are a form of art and the best way to create them is with passion. One of those creators I meet because of my work in Greece is Alexandra Simanndani.
“I love everything about the Greek lifestyle and hope it never changes. When you live here you are blessed with so many impressions!”
Alexandra contacted me when she wanted to find a long term rental and I think that her story will inspire more people who want to move to Greece and explore their own creativity.
Hi Alexandra, can you help me with a short presentation of you?
AS: I was born in Germany. My Mother was from Sparta and my father was from England. We moved very often because my father was in the British Army. Before the age of 21, I lived in Germany, Libya, Lebanon, England and Saudi Arabia.
We visited Sparta and my Greek family every summer: I was Greek in my soul from the beginning. When I was 21, I decided to move to Greece, to Athens, then Sparta back to where my roots were, now to Stoupa in The Mani and soon I will move to Kalamata. Since then I left Greece only once for 4 years to live in Varna, Bulgaria. But i missed Greece so much i had to come back..
You came back to Greece after living abroad. What do you appreciate most about Greek life style?
AS: I love everything about the Greek lifestyle and hope it never changes. The only thing I would want is that the animal welfare laws get better all the time.
When I was living in Sparta I was a positive dog obedience trainer and worked with the animal welfare society. I love all animals with a passion. Now i only have 4 dogs and 2 cats and I am so happy that the people in Stoupa seem to accept and love animals and feel very positive for the care of animals in the whole of Greece. As I told you before: I am Greek in my soul and I can not live outside of Greece!
One of my favorite writers Paulo Coelho wrote: “Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world”. Do you agree? Can art change and save the world?
AS: O, I love Coelho but I don’t think art can change the world. I believe that it can change the world of the artist. When I started to paint, my own world was changed. Every single sunrise can be a painting and every single meeting can start a new project! When I share my painting with others. I have an opportunity to meet new people and get a new perspective as well.
You are a creative person. Does Greece push forward your creativity?
AS: For sure! My soul and my thoughts are free, i enjoy the simplicity of living, the colours, the sun and the sea. When I start a painting, I play with colours and I wait to see what they will show me. When you live here you are blessed with so many impressions!
When we speak about our paintings. You are experimenting all the time, with acrylics and sometimes inks and with a variety of styles. But we always have some masters. Which is yours? And why?
AS: Yes, I mixed the traditional acrylics with some touch of gold like in the old icon paintings and I love many techniques. You know: when the colours take over and they decide what I will paint. And I love to show the beauty! This is what I want to share with others: the beauty of the world around us. And I love Gustav Klimt The master of symbolism! And I use gold a lot in my work as he did. Gustav Klimt is my absolute favourite, i love all of his work.
You sell your work but you also work on order for interior designers and private customers. Can you tell us about your most difficult order?
AS: The most difficult one was for a client in Canada who wanted 240 cms x 180 cms which after a lot of thinking about i decided not to do as not enough room and in the end she accepted for it to be made smaller.
When we speak about ordering jobs: Can you describe how it works?
AS: Well I must know most importantly the colours they want and their wishes about the motiv, the thema, as well. Of course and the measurements the painting must be. Then I make some photos and send that to the buyers. After that I will send them pictures of my work step by step. If they like it, then they buy it and I send it to them.
How can one get in touch with you if someone wants to hire you?
AS: On my Facebook page or on my website or just simply send email to Elwira: she knows how she can find me!
