Iran can be roughly translated into 'Middle Persia' which was the central region of the Persian Empire. Over time, the empire lost its eastern and northern regions and the area now known as Iran was the only remaining area that they controlled. The Persian Empire was at the heights of science, medicine, art, culture, literature and influenced most of the ancient world. All of the countries ending in 'stan', for the crossword buffs, used to be part of the Persian Empire. In modern times Iran is best known for its political troubles and internal violence, however, the culture and the people of Iran for the most part still retain all the wealth and the values of education and a desire for freedom of expression. When researching the landscape I was amazed by the spectacular mountain vistas, valleys, fields of flowers and archeological sites. There is an island in Iran that has multi-coloured rocks, its translated into the Rainbow Island. Instead of trying to replicate the scenes, I interpreted the various aspects of Iranian multi-cultural, diverse people and landscape into a decorative, brightly coloured mountain range. To create the metallic silver, gold and bronze colours I mixed a mica pigment (PW20) called iridescent moonstone from Daniel Smith Co. with yellow ochre (PY43), burnt sienna (PBr7/PR101), and lamp black (PBk6). Its the first time I could use the mica pigment to good effect and it scanned pretty well. In real life, the metallic mountains sparkle.
World Inspired Landscapes: Iran version 1, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2023
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