Al-Khazneh in Petra
This work was inspired by a tour of Jordan I made in September 2023.
During this trip, I didn't see many paintings, but I did see a lot of mosaic art. Logical too, because thanks to the Nabataeans, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs, many historical sites like Petra are richly decorated with mosaics.
These mosaics take you on a time travel, so to speak, allowing you to experience the daily life and art of earlier times. They reveal depictions of people, animals and myths that were part of the rich Jordanian culture. Very fascinating to see.
After my trip, I made several drawings of Petra's treasure chamber; "Al-Khazneh" and the many camels you see there. Later, I thought it would be nice to further elaborate the Al-Khazneh and one of the camels in mosaic style.
This is actually not really 'my thing' and thus quite challenging, but after seeing several beautiful mosaics for a fortnight, I could not resist making work of it myself.
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NB everything you see on this work was drawn (digitally) after which the finishing touches were added with a graphics programme.
Karen Nijst has lived in and near her beloved hometown of Maastricht for many years. She currently works as a web developer (Kahlo Websites in Hapert, Brabant) and is responsible for both programming and graphic design . The latter has undoubtedly influenced some of the drawings you can see.. Read more…