From the Artist: This painting was inspired by a Google Earth image of a place in the north- western Cape in South Africa called Riemvasmaak. The picture was taken near a place where rose quarts rock lies in abundance. The main inspiration for this painting was because I was looking down on a landscape 'from space' -- a different perspective -- and was captivated by the desert colors. The rich intensity of acrylic inks makes it (to me) more abstract.

From the Painting Guide: I've spent more time than I like to admit browsing the world using Google Earth. The world really does look quite different, and it has the advantage over being in a plane in that there are never clouds!

For those who've not heard of Google Earth, About.com's Google Guide describes it as "a map of the world on steroids". It's made from satellite photos of the globe, and once you've downloaded it you can browse around, zooming in and out. The basic version is free.

Things to Consider When Looking at This Painting:
Painting Wet-on-Wet vs Wet-on-Dry: If you work with fluid paint on wet paint (wet-on-wet) you get quite different results to working on dry paint (wet-on-dry). The mixing of the colors when painting wet-on-wet can be controlled to some extent by how wet or damp the paint is, by the angle the paper is lying at, by encouraging it to go in a particular direction with the tip of a brush. But there's always an element of exciting unpredictability.