On the Road to Damascus .:. A Story

Samarah, the center of her family, yearns for a bigger world, a bigger life, she dreams in patterns and colour. She paints images of leaves and flowers on the walls of her family home, and she learns about fiber and the weaving shuttle from her grandmother. Weaving the fabric for her family's clothing has given her the beginnings of a skill she wants more of: she wants to weave tapastries and the fabrics for the clothing she has seen the travellers wearing and trading when they come through her village.

You never know where the seeds of a painting will come from. While researching damask patterns for another project, I started wondering where the word came from, did it have something to do with the weave or was it about where the idea for the weave or fabrics came from? And it was a place name, Damascus.

I tried to imagine what the Middle East might have been like in the Middle Ages. And then I began to imagine a girl who was a pattern designer and had a love of fabrics and fiber, and Samarah was born. 

In the painting, she and her travelling companions have stopped to rest by an oasis. Some water, some food and a rest from the dusty roads. She is day-dreaming about her life to be. The background of the painting is a damask pattern painted into a dreamy bed of purples and periwinkles and lavenders. I believe that Samarah's life was magical and happy: She lived and worked as a weaver in one of the oldest and most culturally rich cities in the Levant. She designed fabrics and patterns in rich and sumptuous brocades, and found satisfaction and joy in the life that she dreamed and then created for herself

You can find On the Road to Damascus here.

Comments

[kelly]

i love that you shared this story. perfect.

[Swirly]

You should read The Red Tent if you haven't already. :)

[studiomme]

This was so inspiration! I always have trouble knowing how much to tell people about the inspiration behind a drawing but you've proven that more is sometimes better. Thank you for that! I love the pattern and soft palette of the piece. Your props are a wonderful addition to the photograph as well!