FOLK TALES OF ZAKYNTHOS
Watercolors and pencils on paper

When I discovered the folk tales of Zakynthos, collected by Marietta Minotou, a significant folklorist and important spiritual personality of the greek island of Zakynthos, in the dialect of the ordinary people of rural countryside, I was charmed by the rhythm and music of their language, but also by the personality of the collector. So I chose seven magical tales from that collection and dared to write them from the beginning, without forgetting as I hope, that the language is like the universe, a complex of rhythms and that with the rhythm everything begins. And then I took my brushes, pencils and colors  and I continued the journey to the world of the unexpected and improbable, where everything is possible and I felt that even for a while, I was involved with the dream. Besides, all of us are creatures made by the material of dreams. It is our destiny to dream and perhaps because of the fact that the dreams are translated through words and images, become fairy tales and paintings that nourish our soul. The creation of images of the book along with the study of a rare bibliography of the two previous centuries (for architecture, nature, customs, costumes and lifestyle of the people of the island  of Zakynthos in earlier times) lasted two years and unfolded with much love and joy. I hope that through the images you will be able to listen to the music of  the fairy tales, but “you will listen their smell” as well, as it is said in the island of Amorgos … And maybe the wind of the fairy tales will blow little in your heart and mind. And maybe every journey into the world of the real and the imaginary will always have the same destination: the return to the Source, from where come out all the dreams, all the wishes and prayers …

Zoe Nikitaki