The island of La Réunion is a French territory in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagascar. Once a remote, uninhabited island, it is now home to a bustling community of Creole and French citizens. The Creole are a mix of people from Madagascar and surrounding islands, and descendants of the slaves that worked sugar cane and spices like vanilla and cinnamon. Those crops still grow on the island, although the main industry is tourism and it has military significance due to its remote location. They have other kinds of crops too, if you catch my drift. I had a chance to visit there in 2010, and made this scene on location a top the old volcanic crater on the north side, where the city of st-Denis lies. Being a top a volcanic crater gave wonderful views of the surrounding turquoise-blue-green water. The south side of the island has an active volcano that erupts every now and then.
La Réunion house ocean view, watercolour 8 x 11" 2010
Down closer to sea-level in the main part of the city, I made this painting of a restaurant hotel called Roland-Garros after a famous French airplane pilot. I tried to capture the volcanic jungle-covered mountain in the background with one of many palm trees blowing in the wind. It always seemed on the verge of raining here, and when it did, the rain came down heavy.
Roland-Garros, watercolour 8 x 11" 2010
Finally, another scene I painted on location, its the volcanic ridge line looking due south, with a spectacular sunset and powerful, rippling waves crashing in from the sea. If you look closely enough, on the right center at sea level, there is a small highway sign, because a highway actually runs along the coast line here. Hanging over the sea, it made for some harrowing driving especially when waves crashed through. When I saw this scene, I thought of "Sunrise on the Sagueny" a painting by Canadian artist Lucius R. O'Brien. I've often thought about going to the Sagueny here in Quebec and painting the same scene that O'Brien did in 1880. If I do so, it would be a night scene with stars, so "Stars on the Sagueny" or something like that.
Intense island, watercolour 8 x 11" 2010
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