Name: Alexandra Manousakis
Age: 35
I live in: Chania, Crete, Greece
1. What do you do for a living?
I run my family’s winery here in Crete called Manousakis Winery. I have been running the winery for the last 12 years.
2. Dream in the drawer?
My dream in the drawer was always to incorporate my art more seriously with the winery and into my life and finally that dream is coming true.
I hope to always be able to continue this way!
3. How do you imagine yourself in 20 years?
Still creating with a lot of fun projects behind me.
4. If you look carefully at yourself in the mirror, what do you see?
I see all the things that have made me a stronger person, sometimes these things are not so pleasant, but I also see a lot of hope and excitement for everything that is coming up. There is a lot of happiness and appreciation for my husband, my daughter and our son that is coming in a couple of weeks.
5. The worse moment of your life?
When my mother passed away in the summer of 2014.
6. The last time you cried?
basically daily- there are a lot of hormones floating around!
7. The 3 favorite songs?
I love the song
you and me by Meute
Dos Gardenias by Buena Vista Social Club
Sodade by Cesaria Evora
8. Do you believe in God?
I believe there is something larger than us out there.
9. What do you think while creating your works?
Everything and anything. when creating, it is a time for my mind to clear. It is very calming and stress releasing. It is a time for me to process things. The designs that come from this are like the equivalent of ‘stream of consciousness’ writing but with painting for me.
10. What is your way to release tension?
making art as well as exercising
11. What do you think about the place where you live?
I grew up in Washington, DC. From there I went to university in New York (NYU) and pursued a career in real estate marketing. I moved to Crete in August of 2007 with the intention to stay only 1 or 2 years and to get away from the stress of New York. I always knew I wanted to try out life in Crete- that being said it is the only small town I would live in as I truly love big cities. I had no idea of the impact this small town would have on me and that I would decide to make it my permanent home. I feel very lucky to live here; it is truly a magical place and where my father’s family is from.
12. How were you as a child?
painfully shy and always drawing and starting projects. I’m less shy but the rest is still true!
13. What do you think about Italy?
I love Italy, I lived in Florence for 5 months while attending a study abroad semester . The people, the natural beauty, the food, the wine… there is nothing not to love!
14. Favorite movie?
Home Alone. Sounds so silly but there is an innocence and a feeling of family that I have always loved and it puts me in a good mood.
15. Who is your favorite artist?
Such a difficult question!
Miro, Picasso, Matisse, Dubouffet and the list goes on. It is very hard for me to choose just one as I draw my inspiration from so many different artists, both known and unknown.
16. Where do you go to feel at peace with yourself?
My home with my daughter and husband 🙂
17. What was your greatest satisfaction in your work? And the hardest moment?
The greatest satisfaction was when I started to incorporate my work in my every day at the winery- like 2 worlds coming together very cohesively. There are hard moments in creating but those are what bring about the satisfaction later so I cannot say that there is a hardest moment as it is those difficult and less obvious moments that push the great pieces through.
18. Do you love fashion?
I do love fashion but I wouldn’t say I follow what’s going on, I have always been intrigued by how people present themselves to the world but I am terrible at following trends and knowing what is in or what isn’t!
19. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?
optimistic in general
20. What is the thing that makes you more angry?
People being treated unfairly
21. Who is the person who gives you the most inspiration? How are your ideas born?
I would say my husband and my daughter. My husband and I work on all of our businesses together and when we start talking about ideas, they can take us anywhere, we have so much fun coming up with things together and pushing each other to go further. My daughter can recognize all of my work and seeing her light up when she sees it makes me so happy (she is 2 years old)
22. The best place you ever seen?
Morocco
23. Have you ever made or received a surprise?
yes! so many times- I love surprising people.
24. When was the last time you thought “I’m a lucky and happy person”?
When answering your questions!
25. Do you like vintage design?
Of course, love it. there is something to learn from all different time periods and since I work from older works of mine and draw inspiration from them, I truly believe in learning from past designs and ideas.
credits: a special thank for the help to graphic designers beatrice bressi and Enrico Usberti
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