Goat

The sculptural shapes and date palms make this painting look like a travel poster from the 1930s. I am still working on the plants but am happy with the calm dignity of the goat. They are such wonderful creatures.

Here is the most recent version of the goat. The new plants I added grow wild in the Jordan Valley and I am working from photos taken by the some of the women in the photography workshop we did there.

My wild flower guide book says the plant is Calotropis procera and it grows in tropical and central Africa but I found them as roadside weeds in the farms of Dead Sea. They can grow to fifteen feet tall. They are also known as Apple of Sodom, which is appropriate for the region where I found them. In Arabic they are called "ashir". I have noticed them before with their poisonous grapefruit-like fruit later in the season and would like to try using the sap as a glue or pigment binder. I like how the leaves are similar in shape to the ears of the goat.

I can't decide if I like the palm tree or if I shall change it into a procera too. Trees are so hard for me!