About half of the Carpathian mountain range is in Romania, it is a geologically old range eroded with time and lush with greenery and blue water. With abundant thermal and mineral waters there are many popular outdoor thermal spas. I went to one, although it was in Banff at the hotel in Calgary, and the water was naturally warm and saline even though it was in the midst of winter. As a small country in the middle of East, West and Southern Europe and surrounded by regional powers, Romania shifted from Roman to Ottoman to Soviet rule over the centuries, finally landing as a democracy part of the European Union and NATO. Unlike other European countries, Romania appear to have been more or less a country as far back as the bronze age. In studying the history of countries all over the world, I noticed that countries surrounded by mountains, like Albania, Afghanistan, Nepal or Andalusia, tended to have less changes politically. Maybe in the old days Mountains made it harder for ground armies to sustain any influence, and defenders had a big terrain advantage. In the painting, I tried to capture the golden, green and blue colour scheme of various scenes I could find of Romania. Its is definitely a mountainous place.
World Inspired Landscapes: Romania, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, March 2025
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