Trici Venola – JAIPUR – RAJASTHAN – 2018 – MESOPOTAMIA – 2019 – 2020
My 67th birthday, and I was depressed. I’d dropped 30 pounds, and thanks to a generous patron I could walk. But I couldn’t go anywhere. “I’ve always meant to go to India,” I said disconsolately to a friend, “and here I am almost in my 8th decade and never been there.” So he sent me. On my birthday the following year: 2018. Angels walk the earth and so do I!!
I was traveling with my friend Pat. We decided on Jaipur, the Pink City. They painted it pink in the 19thCentury, for a visit from Queen Victoria.
PALACE OF WINDS
-Psychotic!! Anyone who tries to draw the Palace of Winds is psychotic!! – Zed here works at swank K & L Jewelers, at eye level across from the Palace, and looks at it every day. I wonder what effect this has – if any – TriciVenola from photos 2020—–The Palace is so thin that the cooling winds could blow right through it, welcome in sweltering days and nights.
THE BANYAN PRANAM
My first pranam – Ranjeer Singh, who worked at our hotel, presented it to me under their huge banyan tree. Drawing him, I realized that the lines of the fingers in a pranam resemble a lotus.
THE MAGNIFICENT ‘STASH
The ‘stash & chops are red!! – Proud doorman at a very good restaurant – Jaipur 2018——His turban was bright green. The contrasts in India are both thrilling and horrifying. The beggar on the street was as brilliantly dressed as the doorman.
WANDERING AROUND JAIPUR
Buildings with roofs that look like balloons! – One kiosk from the Palace of Winds! Tattoo Cafe!!
——India hits you right in the face just like they always said. Drawn while walking around with the sketchbook open.
THE BAG SALESMEN
Aaqib – Mohammed – Abbjbaker #38 across from the Palace of Winds – Famous Nagara Shoestore – #32—–I bought the bag. Goat leather. Cordovan. And a backpack. Use ’em all the time.
SAMODE HAVALI
-Samode Havali – Jaipur—–Part of my birthday gift was a short stay at this sumptuous hotel. We turned a corner on a dusty street into the lap of luxury, another 19thCentury monument to another age.
PINK CITY CORNER
5 September 2018 –—-Finally settled down to drawing. This exotic scene is repeated on corner after corner all through the town, monkeys running along the edges. All these guys came over one by one to see how they looked drawn. Much bonhomie.
JAIPUR STREETLIGHT
And their streetlights!——It’s hard to write these captions with anything but exclamation points. I mean, each streetlight is a bright yellow sun, with a face, for gods’ sake.