September 2015
We visited the capitol of Estonia, Tallinn, for a week. We’ve become fans of this small city of a small country just 200 kilometers from the Russian border.
[wpepsc name=”At Fat Margaret Square in Tallinn pen and ink A3 11.5 x 16.5″” price=”250″ align=”center”]
This small village is thick with canals, 180 foot bridges and brick houses with thatched roofs, making for picturesque scenes at every turn. It was founded by Franciscians circa 1200. Now 2600 people live there. We took a boat through the canals. Here are my favorite spots. All are miniatures, approximately 4″ x 6″. The watercolors are on post card stock.
[wpecpp name=”Giethoorn Two Houses” price=”50″ align=”center”]
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[wpecpp name=”Giethoorn, 3 bridges post card A6″ price=”50″ align=”center”]
[wpecpp name=”Giethoorn, 3 bridges post card A6″ price=”50″ align=”center”]
Here are some drawings and sketches of the Dutch.
Drawings:
Sketches:
Jazz Singer, acrylics, A3, 16.5 x 11.5″
I was inspired by her natural warmth and the way she connected with her audience, which I hope I captured.
One of my favorite topics! Here two kittens play in the botanic gardens in Valencia.
These are pen and ink drawings together with water colors from our time in Paris. Some are from Courbevoie, famous for the impressionist paintings done on ile de la Jatte. I spent a lot of time meeting with friends at Bar de la Gare and Cafe Bert in Paris.
A few of these are still available. Please contact me for information.
From our safari to Zambia, June 2014.
These paintings are mostly from my journal, which I did while we were there. Some of the very small ones I later did on larger paper, also in water color.
We traveled by train for 1500 kilometers from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Zambia, and spent several days in a small village where our nephew works as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was an uplifting experience.
It started with an hour long walk in the dark (see the painting “Heart of Lightness”). As we approached the village we heard shouts of joy, hugs and kisses soon following. Then they sang for an hour, choral harmony in which the whole village joined. We were perfect strangers yet they welcomed us as if we were long lost relatives. We lived in a small hut and watched the people work on the dam, harvest cassava and do other chores. What loads the women can carry on their heads! We ate with them, partied with them. They are sweet and innocent, these people of Lunda land.
I hope you will enjoy my portrayal of the experience, the colors, the scenes, the sense of innocence.
Heart of Lightness We walked on the path towards the village under the glow of the yellow moon. After almost an hour we saw the glow of campfires on the hill. Soon we were welcomed with shrieks and smothered with hugs and kisses on the cheeks.
The Chorus After we arrived they sang in harmony for an hour. Children in the front row would sometimes bang the rhythm on the ground. The second row was for the teens, and the adults were in the last.
They sang beautifully.
Women Dance At night the young women danced around a campfire, for which they used a brazier. The wood fire cast an orange glow. My original was just 2″x 4″. The rhythms were mesmerizing. Even some of the older women (by older I mean over 25, as the life span here is just 45) joined in. I wanted to also.
Women Collect Sand The Peace Corps project is a small dam for filling fish ponds. They need the protein and the income. They do not have much of either. They have goats but they do not eat them, they are for dowries, and they are lactose intolerant so nary a piece of cheese in the country. In this painting they collect sand for the dam.
Walking the Bush We explored the area around the village. Here are friends walk through the bush.
What I experienced gave me a new perspective, different colors, the elongated limbs, the redness of the soil.
I did three versions of this view. The first one (bottom) was a sketch from memory. I noticed the gorgeous view as we passed by on Bus 30 on the way up the hill. I did the second from a photo in pen and ink, and the third on site in watercolor. I think you will find it interesting to see the three together. From memory- I think I did it rather accurately considering I had about 30 seconds. The first two will be up on my website shortly http://garyartista.wix.com/gary-kirkpatrick-art
