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Way back in 1998, when I took up the position of Artist for the Study Center, I was asked to create a Holiday card that could be sent to all the friends of the Center. Given free reign to create anything I wanted, and as the request came in early December, I chose a drawing of a local Cretan village house that I had done earlier. I added a festive wreath to the rather rustic door, and our first Center card was born!  

This first card was warmly received, and we decided to create a new card every year. From now on, however, I would have more time to think about the subject matter, and decided to make images that would humorously parody Minoan themes. This was great fun and I think we created a laugh or two.

Not all the cards had a Minoan theme. This card depicting Santa Claus (Agios Vasilis) as a Cretan shepherd is one of my favorites!

It’s not always easy trying to come up with something lighthearted each year, so on a few occasions I have done watercolor paintings of local landscapes that incorporate some of the archaeological excavations facilitated by the Center. This card depicts a view of the Azoria excavation.

I have always loved the watercolor paintings of archaeological finds that were done before the advent of color photography, by artists such as Piet de Jong, and have tried to revive that tradition by making my own watercolors of various finds from excavations on Crete. I also realized that they would make nice holiday cards.

Traditionally, I have made these images using conventional materials, such as watercolor, pen and ink, and colored pencil. This year, however, thanks to the generous donation of an iPad, I decided to create the card digitally for the first time. While I’m not sure I will continue to do it this way, it was great fun making it. In all, we have made 27 holiday cards since, including that first one back in 1998. Hopefully we will continue this tradition far into the future. Until the next holiday season, I will leave you with this last card from 2024. Χρόνια πολλά, Doug Faulmann

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