One of many island nations in the Caribbean, Grenada stands out for its rugged, natural shorelines, lush greenery, and the endless sandy beaches. Scuba diving is a popular tourist attraction, they even have an underwater sculpture display where barnacles and coral grow on statues of people, bikes, couches, and even TVs made of plaster. A little known fact is that Grenada is one of the biggest exporters of nutmeg, that brownish spice that is used on vegetables and in pumpkin pies. In the painting, the nutmeg fruits are shown in exaggerated fashion growing across the land. Historically Grenada was populated by the Arawak indigenous people, then Spanish cartographers discovered the islands and probably named it after Granada the Spanish city, although there is no evidence that they ever tried to colonize. Instead, the British and French took over in succession, leaving behind an all too familiar story of indigenous displacement and slave labour for sugar cane. Now independent, Grenada thrives on tourism and agriculture. In planning this painting I considered doing an underwater scene with coral-encrusted statues, but then I researched some of the local Grenada landscape paintings and saw a great opportunity for colour. It was nice to paint a tropical beach scene since the weather here in Canada was -40℃!
World Inspired Landscapes: Grenada, watercolour 10 x 11" cold press, February 2023 (No. 3366)
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