Back on the road to Morocco

Like most people I don't always read the instructions. So when I painted that picture for the Morocco competition I guess I should have read the small print. It turns out there are two stages to this competition - on the plus side they really are giving out 3 holidays (for 2) to the best 3 paintings, and hundreds of euros worth of art materials to the next six placing. And the good news is I made it through to stage 2  - the last 45 - so have a 1 in 5 chance of winning something (not another bloody Blue Peter badge). The bad news is I've got to go to Bordeaux to take part - all the action takes place next Saturday. And ity's a long way - 400km. I've got to spend three and a half hours (each way) on a train from Narbonne to Bordeaux to take part in a four-hour painting competition. So that's 7 hours on a train, 110€ on train tickets, plus a taxi in Bordeaux and parking in Narbonne all day interspersed with four hours of painting in a giant art shop in Bordeaux. And I'll miss the vernissage for the vines/grapes/wine show that I delivered my picture for today. Damn. I hate missing free wine.

Anyway I've decided to go for it (what the hell) and am practicing and preparing for it - previous "paint on the day" competitions have been a disaster for me, so I want to be prepared. In that light I've been thinking about Morocco and have been working on themes that I can connect to. Some time in the past my ancestor Abses made their way from North Africa to Spain, so I guess I have some cultural links there. Which is interesting . I have researched and found some interesting old symbols I like, including a double-thumbed clenched fist with an eye in the middle, that is remarkably similar to Hunter S. Thompson's Gonzo logo (no thunderbolt, but you can't have everything), and I have been experimenting with a warmer, north African palette.

This is what I've got so far:

Moroccan colours
100x100cm Acrylic on Paper

Moroccan Window
100x100cm, Acrylic on canvas