Pruna, also Local Artists

Yesterday we went to Pruna, a village 7 km from Olvera.  The main reason for going was to exchange our butane heating tank.  This is done at the service station - there is only one.  Only one in Olvera also.    We are so accustomed to seeing a service station on every street corner and several at each interstate exit.  In this part of Spain they are scarce.

Pruna's main industry is olives as is the case of many of the small villages.  It has a castle, the remains of a Moorish fortress, just outside of town. There are many of these Moorish castle ruins in the area.  They were strategically placed so signals could be sent from one to the next by mirror flashes as a way of one community communicating with its neighbor.

After eating lunch we strolled about, walking to the top of the village to get a photo of the castle and, off in the distance, Olvera.

Ayuntamiento (city hall) in Pruna

As we walked along, the wildflowers were in abundance due to the recent rains.

I never tire of seeing Olvera from different perspectives.

Later this same day, walking downtown in Olvera, we encountered Daud Akhriev, the artist who is married to Melissa Hefferlin.  Melissa is originally from Chattanooga and at age twenty went to Russia to study at the Russian Academy of Fine Art in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).  There she met Daud, who was a graduate student at the Academy. They got married and have lived in Olvera for a couple of years.  They left today to go to Morocco today for a month of painting.  

You can learn more about them on their websites.  For Melissa, click here.  For Daud, click here. 

Please check out their websites.  They are both exceptional artists and you can enjoy many examples of their artwork there.  We had the pleasure of visiting them in their home last year and are pleased to  renew contact with them.

Melissa, Daud, and their son Tim, who is also an artist

Love this photo of Melissa

Daud's painting (7ft. X 14ft.) which is hung on the second floor of the
Olvera Ayuntamiento (city hall)

Close up of fisherman.  This was painted in
Essaouira, on the coast of Morocco, which is due west of
Marrakech