Scarf and Beads at Kitchario

I started this painting as a class demonstration when I was teaching at the "Ocean Sands Watercolor Workshop" this spring. I finally have returned to it. this lady is a Battwa pygmy. April and I stayed with the Battwa in 2004 and with the Dr. Scott and Carol Kellerman who are medical missionaries. Scott and Carol are the main source of medical assistance to the Battwa.

This woman was at a clinic that Dr. Scott did at Kitchario. Kitchario is in the Western mountains of Uganda, on the border with Congo. The plight of the Battwa is dire since they have been thrown out of their traditional homeland to make a "peace" park for the mountain gorilla. They have become an endangered species in their own right. The world community, in it's efforts to protect the mountain gorilla, is trying to train them to be farmers. They are a people of hunting and gathering with no apparent future tense in their language. Planting for a future harvest is a concept quite foreign to them.
This painting is 15"x22"on a half sheet of 200# Waterford, St. Cuthbert's mill, Cold Press, my favorite sheet paper.

Child at Takeo

This painting is from a photograph taken by Colin and Julie in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This photo was taken at Tak Meo. April and I were in Phnom Penh in January and February of this(2007)year .
This painting is 12x18 and is painted on a 140# Kilimanjaro watercolor block. Kilimanjaro blocks come in a variety of sizes that are interesting to work on. As far as I know the paper does not come in a Hot(not) press. Cold press is of course much easier to work as the texture does a lot of the work for the painter.