Petra by Night

Painting: Waiting for the Music

I have not done a blog for many months. I have been recovering from an accident I had just after I visited Petra. The visit by night, by candlelight is something I will never forget but the visit the next day somehow freaked me out vibrationally, so I changed my plans and went to the desert. There, I was travelling with a Bedouin elder by camel when we were set upon by smugglers. My camel spooked and threw me flying resulting in a broken back, severe concussion, from which I am still suffering effects and, a rather grim hospital stay in Jordan.

Before this however, I had a wonderful experience in Jordan due to Ibrahim, my driver, my friend and eventually, my saviour. He showed me magical places close to his heart, the most extraordinary of which was the trip into Petra at night. The guide was a friend of Ibrahim’s and three of us plotted so that he and I ended up way out in front of the others who had come to experience this special evening. He insisted that no one talk and that the main body of the group stay about 200 meters behind us. It felt like we were the only beings on earth as we made our way through the long passage of the siq in the candlelight heading towards the Treasury. It was a trip to another time, if not another world. Eventually, the square in front of Treasury filled up and the evening became even more ancient as the music from another era began. Very very magical.

Petra Night

Petra Night

These are two paintings that came out of that long erie walk through the candle lit, Siq. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of deja vu, a profound feeling of love and of homecoming.

The Power, the Love: Night Visit , The Siq, Petra oil on canvas with rhodolite garnet, pyrite 18 x 24″

For those who have never seen the magic of the Siq, here is an image of that wonderous minute when suddenly one arrives at the Treasury.

Petra Night