This painting was inspired by Parhelion’s sense of the imaginative spirit of the classic “Alf Laylah wa Laylah”, the “Tales of 1,001 Nights" that he read as a boy. The colours are those of the Arabian deserts with the occasional slash of oasis green. The arcs, curls, and slashes of paint express imagination, fantasy, and emotion. These strokes also show the sense of storytelling, words seeming to dart in flight. The quick-drying immediacy of acrylic paint helped to achieve emotional directness and get the painting’s story across. Handfuls of Caribbean beach sand (representing the deserts of Araby) are scattered across and mingled with the paint, together with Arabica coffee grounds.
