Unpacked-- Souvenirs from Recent Travels

Description

Maybe I've mentioned that my husband is quite the traveler? He visits about 20 countries per year, and has incredible stories about places like Lesotho and Mongolia.

For the most part, I'm happy to stay home and paint.

He's also a firm believer in carry on luggage only. And that means he's not that committed to souvenirs. Which is why I was surprised when he brought these things back from a recent trip. Most of them were gifts, so he made the effort to cram them in to his bag.

There's a small Moai carving from Easter Island, a handpainted tile from his hosts in Tunisia, a terra cotta dish from Syria, and a vase with sand sculpture from Jordan. I added the blue bowl, because I needed the color and I once read of a blue bowl as a symbol of Earth-- maybe from a Pablo Neruda poem? I forget.

The left half of the painting has the bag that some of these things came in. I've always been fascinated with looking at things from a different angle and I wanted the challenge of creating depth with limited values. Later, someone suggested that the bag represents travel and looking at things from a new perspective which comes with seeing more of the world. I like that idea.

10x22 oil on birch panel

Added on Sep 04, 2009