To close out October the other day I completed countries starting with the letter "P" with the World Inspired Landscape: Portugal. When I typed 'Portugal landscape' into google all the pictures that came up were coastal scenes that belonged on a screen-saver or in a travel brochure. The scenery looked nice but a lot of the paintings in this series depict the coast and the sea in one way or another. Having been near Portugal in the past (I was in Madrid in 1998), the landscape seemed to be vast and very dusty, with occasional trees. So I typed 'Portugal desert' into google, and up comes a whole screen of natas, the iconic Portugeuse tart. Made with a yellowish custard in a flaky tart case, the tops are singed with a flame until spots of brown and black appear from the caramelized sugar. It was amusing that google didn't know how to spell...a tart is dessert, an arid sandy expanse is a desert. Like Mom says, dessert has two esses since you always want more! The wordplay gave me an idea for the painting, which shows a "desert in a dessert in a desert." Thus, cacti are growing out of natas tarts that are sitting on a vast expanse of sand.
Throughout the series I have recounted the colonial history of many countries, in particular Central and South America, the Caribbean and Pacific island nation, and most of Africa which were under colonial rule at one time or another. the Portuguese were among the first of the colonial powers, forming settlements along the gold and ivory coast of West Africa and beginning the slave trade. Eventually they would be mostly displaced by German, Dutch, English and French colonial powers although some of their enclaves remained and even speak Portuguese to this day. Since then Portugal has hit hard times both economically and environmentally. In recent years wild fires have ravaged the landscapes, and just this week deadly floods swept over their neighbor, Spain. Regardless of history, one can only hope that we are all in it together for the future.
World Inspired Landscapes: Portugal, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, October 2024
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