Memory of Brazil

A memory can be a powerful thing, we tend to remember the important things like feelings and impressions. On a drive in Brazil we went past a community on a hillside, and I noticed a mother walking up a steep road holding hands with a child under the moonlight. Everything was illuminated with an eerie glow, pierced only by some artificial light from the windows of the small brick houses and the headlights from the nearby highway. I painted this scene either in Brazil when I was there (since I had my paints with me at the time), or shortly after I returned using some small sketches I made with pencil. Memory has it limits. Record keeping was never a strong suit for me, other than the Spain trip where I kept detailed notes of all the work. Starting around 2018 I have been putting the date somewhere inconspicuous on the painting to keep a basic record of which year the work was done. The blog helps too, about one third of my new work is mentioned on the blog. 

It is interesting to have found this painting in my collection from 2017 because I had not learned of Hiroshige yet. Hiroshige was an artist from 19th century Japan who was famous for landscapes, especially ones featuring a moon-lit night scene. One big difference is that he rarely included shadows in his designs. There is one exception, a print called Night View of Saruwaka-mach. There is a link to it if you click.






Memory of Brazil, 5 x 7 " cold press, watercolour, 2017 (No. 1618)