While Switzerland has remained neutral in just about everything historically, they were cashing in quite literally by being a discreet world bank. Much of their involvement is atoned for. Looking at the map of Switzerland and we might see why they stay neutral, to the north is Germany, the the east Austria, to the south Italy, and to the West France. Talk about being in a European sandwich. Even their border is convoluted and twisted up, I noticed a small German enclave surrounded by Switzerland in the north, there must be some interesting history behind those map contours. A long long time ago, like 150,000 years ago, there were hominids living in the area, which would make it among the earliest European trace of human ancestry. In the medieval times Switzerland formed as a loose association of regional factions, and became a sovereign state in the mid 19th century. Researching the landscape revealed literally one type, that was extremely tall and rugged mountains with lush green passes. The rivers and lakes follow deep valleys that cross the land. With numerous mountain scenes in the series, and one recently in Spain, I decided to spice up the scene with the good old Ukiyo clouds. Those are the pink hotdogs floating in the sky... Japanese print designers used to include these to simulate the effect of clouds, and probably to cut costs on the wood block process. It has nothing to do with Switzerland, but perhaps it would be amusing to a Swiss person!?
World Inspired Landscapes: Switzerland version ii, watercolour 7 x 10" hot press, April 2025
Here is the first version I had up on the blog for awhile, but upon reflection the pink ukiyo clouds were too strong. In the revised version I toned down the clouds and adjusted the overall colour scheme to be more pastel. We know a Swiss person really well and I think the new version is much more in line with being Swiss, like a little reserved.
World Inspired Landscapes: Switzerland version i, watercolour 7 x 10" hot press, April 2025
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