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Dimitris Zazanis, the icon painter
JUNE 18,2009
A couple of years ago my friend Anna Britt introduced me to this talented icon painter who she has been friends with for several years. I got interested in Dimitris Zazanis' icons after she had bought me one for a gift. So for the past couple of trips to Greece going for a visit to his workshop has been part of my visits to Athens.
Dimitris has a tiny shop on a ramshackle narrow street off the square of Monastiraki near the flea market and bazaar. He wasn't always located there. Anna Britt tells me that when she first met him, he had a much better shop on one of the more tourist-popular streets in Plaka. But, due to the hot real estate market in Athens some years ago he had to give up his shop and move to a more humble abode. Dimitris isn't into the posh touristic boutique style of shop. He works alone, a dedicate artist in a real workshop. His tiny space is crammed with the fruits of his labours: Icons of every size and religious subject, all hand-painted with loving care.
When Anna Britt and I visited him this trip, we sat and chatted awhile as we usually do. Dimitris speaks English and is in fact adept at several languages. He's an interesting, intelligent man. Despite health set-backs he runs his business on this shabby backwater street where few tourists would ever venture. Anna Britt and I encouraged him to get a website and advertise. He doesn't know about these things so we are thinking of setting one up for him, because he certainly does deserve publicity. His icons are beautiful works of art, not the mass-produced icons you see in tourist shops. I have two of them now and have bought icons for my children and my friends.
If you go to Athens, look for his humble little shop on this street, just off the main street that runs by Monastiraki. Aghias Theklas St. 13. The name of the shop is Zazanis Icon Shop.
A couple of years ago my friend Anna Britt introduced me to this talented icon painter who she has been friends with for several years. I got interested in Dimitris Zazanis' icons after she had bought me one for a gift. So for the past couple of trips to Greece going for a visit to his workshop has been part of my visits to Athens.
Dimitris has a tiny shop on a ramshackle narrow street off the square of Monastiraki near the flea market and bazaar. He wasn't always located there. Anna Britt tells me that when she first met him, he had a much better shop on one of the more tourist-popular streets in Plaka. But, due to the hot real estate market in Athens some years ago he had to give up his shop and move to a more humble abode. Dimitris isn't into the posh touristic boutique style of shop. He works alone, a dedicate artist in a real workshop. His tiny space is crammed with the fruits of his labours: Icons of every size and religious subject, all hand-painted with loving care.
When Anna Britt and I visited him this trip, we sat and chatted awhile as we usually do. Dimitris speaks English and is in fact adept at several languages. He's an interesting, intelligent man. Despite health set-backs he runs his business on this shabby backwater street where few tourists would ever venture. Anna Britt and I encouraged him to get a website and advertise. He doesn't know about these things so we are thinking of setting one up for him, because he certainly does deserve publicity. His icons are beautiful works of art, not the mass-produced icons you see in tourist shops. I have two of them now and have bought icons for my children and my friends.
If you go to Athens, look for his humble little shop on this street, just off the main street that runs by Monastiraki. Aghias Theklas St. 13. The name of the shop is Zazanis Icon Shop.
1 comment:
Hello, do you happen to have an email for Dimitri? I would like to contact him about making icons before I visit Greece. Thanks!
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