COVID 19 Update:
Jason's Athens exhibition has been postponed from
May 2020, to May 2021
Origins
An Artist's Journey Through the Heart of Greece
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Jason is currently embarking on a large and exciting project traveling the length and breadth of Greece in a project entitled Origins - An Artist's Journey Through the Heart of Greece.
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Jason has partnered with the Greek organisation AMALTHIA, which is a collective of breeders, academics and enthusiasts dedicated to the study and conservation of traditional Greek breeds of livestock, including some of the most ancient domesticated animals on earth.
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In 2017-18 Jason travelled throughout Greece producing field sketches of these animals, as well as depictions of vernacular architecture including windmills and ancient olive presses, as well as fish markets and tavernas, and portraits of the shepherds, farmers and their families - the custodians of this important Hellenic heritage.
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From his sketches and photographs a series of paintings is being worked up for a major exhibition and book celebrating the rich historical, agricultural and culinary heritage of Greece.
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Some of the animals to be studied and painted by Jason - in the environs in which they have been bred over the centuries, include;
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Kefalonia-Ithaki Sheep
A milking breed found throughout the Ionian Islands
Cretan Mountain Cattle
A critically rare beef breed, only 20-25 remaining.
Skyros Pony
Barely 200 of this ancient breed survive on this Aegean island, and in a few pockets of the mainland.
Greek Shepherd
A traditional dog of the Greek mountains, bred for centuries by shepherds to guard their flocks,
Mastic of Chios
The island of Chios has for centuries been famed for the culinary and medicinal resin Mastic, produced nowhere else on earth.
The Mastic Growers Association of Chios hosted Jason on the island in
October 2017. Staying in the medieval Mastic village of Pyrgi, Jason sketched the ancient
trees and production methods, and will complete a Chios painting for the Athens exhibition.
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East Aegean Shorthorn
Only recently rediscovered in small herds on the islands of Agathonisi and Lipsi.
Oulokeratiki goat
One of the most distinctive Greek breeds, multi-coloured, and possessing dramatic spiralling horns