Saturday, December 31, 2011

Plein Air in Jordan


After teaching art every day in Jordan I had a couple of hours before sunset to take my paints outside and work on these landscapes. The biggest challenge was finding places to hide from friendly children who would surround me. So I sought out deep ditches and remote wasteland behind giant boulders to crouch in hopeful seclusion. Inevitably I was found and ended up painting under the interested gaze of shepherds, farmers and sometimes whole families. I can't blame them. I love to watch people paint too! And the concept of being happy while being alone doesn't really exist in Jordan's people oriented culture. My friends would ask in amazement if I was really going painting "la hally' - alone. They really think I'm crazy now.

These paintings, and the one in the previous post both show Wadi Hasa. The giant sandstone cliffs are the same geology as Petra, which is a few miles to the south.  


The haze in the air is partly clouds but mostly dust from a windy day in the mountains to the north.

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