Hello, my name is Joanna and I am from the UK. I live on mainland Greece. Not a place I expected to be, but expectations are over rated. You could say two dogs and some dreaming brought me here. The dogs in question never met.
I’m sure if you really need to know a big story, so here’s a brief- ish one. I graduated from University with an art degree in the early 90’s expecting to be an artist for life. Even when I wasn’t an artist, I was in my heart. But after a difficult 20’s, and not helped by the fact the painting was not loved by the art world, I sort of had a confidence crisis. Simultaneously I was fed up of being poor and decided to do something about it.
In 2001 I set up Mother Studios in Hackney Wick, London. Not a cool place back then, only Space Studios set up by Bridget Riley had studios in this area. It was a forgotten producing wasteland until the artists moved in, and the producing took a whole new turn.
Mother Studios and artists seeking to relocate during the building boom, turned to cheap places. We found ourselves in HW. The studios became very successful in different ways. We had Banksy and Oliver Murillo, and many well known artists. I co-founded Hackney WickED Festival that really put HW on the map. A free DIY arts festival of 500 artists and 50,000 visitors in a single weekend.
I was producing only at this point. I didn’t want to do it any more and I took my life into a sharp left turn. Losing Mother Studios to the landlords, then selling the second Mother Studios, I up and left. I worked in Mexico with Cozumel Ocean Research, working on and devising environmentally sound projects devised to support& protect the beautiful Mesoamerican Coral Reef. I became a passionate scuba diver and ocean defender.
Now I am in the happy place, painting, drawing and exploring my interests though my work, which include the beauty and power of numbers, all natural life and the endless possibilities of what we can’t see but can often feel. I work with my friend Akis from Ionian Dream Sailing to help the animals here. Usually cats and dogs, but Akis never says no.
Now I am devising new environmental projects, creating positive mental health and art projects coming next year.
NEW THINGS ON THEIR WAY
Creative & Health art holidays for all levels, here in Parga, Greece.
Recorded and Online meditation groups. Learning how to tune out and stop, relief from negative thinking loops, and dynamic problem solving among other things.
Eco scuba and sailing trips with Ionian Dream Sailing
Joanna Hughes 