This painting is part of a small series dedicated to the current inhabitants of the ancient city Ephesus. Today, on the grounds of this open-air museum, people feel like guests, foreigners, trying to lift the veil of the centuries-old secrets. But cats are the true owners here, the small guardians of the sacred ruins.
Original watercolor painting on cotton paper 39 x 55 cm (15,35 x 21,65 inch).
I used archival quality cotton paper in a natural tone.
CoA is included.
We all have our off days. I respect my failures and failings, because they help me improve. But what I'm really sorry about is the paper.
And I have strong reasons for this:
- Cotton cultivation causes soil degradation and erosion as well as loss of forest area and other habitat.
- Cotton production is responsible for the emission of 220 million tons of CO2 annually.
- It takes 10,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of cotton, meaning it takes about 1,276 liters to make 1 Full Imperial size watercolor paper sheet.
Even the most responsible production of watercolor paper is harmful to the environment.
So I try to be very economical with the watercolor paper.
I make postcards on the little pieces of paper that I left behind when I cut the roll for my paintings and recycle the smallest pieces. And when a painting on a dense paper fails, I just flip the sheet and paint on the other side. So some of my paintings on the backside contain images that I found unsuccessful. I enclose a picture of the artwork back in this case.
