Ancient Spaces

Teatime in Timbuktu

24 x 24”. Acrylics, crayons, graphite and monotype collage on Birch panel.

I once spent a month in Timbuktu when I was 23 and traveling across the Sahel in the back of a food aid grain truck. I was soon in love with sugary mint tea, the kind that is poured into small glasses from high up to get a perfect froth. Even today, The taste and gurgling sound remain sweet memories.

Abalessa

40 x30”. Graphite, acrylics, and monotype collage on panel.

I am not a fan of raiding ancient tombs but I’d give anything to see Tin Hinan’s beads of garnet, turquoise, amazonite and cornelian, once buried with this 4th century desert queen at Abalessa in Algeria.  She was a fearless warrior, but more importantly, she possessed a knowledge of herbs for healing, taught her people poetry and the Tifinagh alphabet.

Mnarani Ruins at Kilifi

Mixed media (Acrylic, paper collage and ink) on birch panel, 24x24”.

Mnarani was an Arab settlement in the 14th century when traders sailed with the monsoon winds from the Persian gulf and landed on the Kenya coast. I love  this peaceful garden and cool Indian ocean breeze on the edge of the world.

Ready for a short climb? You can take 100 steps to feel that cool Indian Ocean breeze and get a view of this peaceful garden on the edge of the world.

Ghadames, Pearl of the Desert

57.5x27.5”.  Acrylic, newsprint, monotype collage and crayon on paper.

Do you have a favorite oasis?  Here the houses are made from gypsum and sun-dried mud bricks. A network of cream-colored alleyways leads to a cool spring water pool and all the roofs are connected by steps used only by women to pass from house to house. Another place that time forgot…

Treasures of Kairouan

24 x24”.  Acrylics, graphite, crayons, and monotype collage on canvas.

Kairouan was founded in 670 CE by Uqba ibn Nãfi. According to legend, he poked his stick into the North African dust, which created a spring. Today, the old city is a magical place filled with rows of rose water bottles, colored rocks of incense, and makroudh, those sweet date pastries that melt in your mouth and remind you of home… 

The Lighthouse at Chumbe Island, Zanzibar

24x36”. Acrylics, crayons, paper collage and ink on canvas. 

This historic lighthouse, built by the Sultan of Zanzibar on an ancient limestone reef,  offers amazing views of the seas between Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, still plied by dhows unchanged for a thousand years.

Be patient for the morning mist to dissipate and you will be rewarded when the sun emerges and the ocean shimmers with aquamarine waters against color-blocked champagne skies.