Went to the tiangus (market) today - it was huge - kinda like all the souqs in Damman on Thursday morning. All sorts of things for sale - from clothes to food to hardware to whatever. It was fun. Found a handful of things - honey, some branding irons, fried plantains, etc. One thing that disturbs me, but I saw this in the Dammam markets, as well, were the song birds in cages for sale. Birds like mockingbirds, cardinals, green jays, orioles, vireos, starlings and some of the local parrots. There were, of course, the array of normal cage birds: canaries, budgies, parrots, finches, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, etc. It was the captured wild birds that I hate to see. My best birding companion and friend, Nicole, would have been aggast. Carolyn, likewise, could not bear to look at them. For me it was taking stock of what would be a very illegal market in wild birds back in the US.
Back at the apartment I worked on another painting. It is the Port Isabel Lighthouse (I think that this is the last of the Texas lighthouses). I hate the paper that I am using - it bleeds when the wash is too wet, so I have had to go with gouache (opaque watercolor). I will salvage the painting for the principle. I should finish it in the next day or two.
The attached painting is a quick watercolor of some more boats in Zihua. I did this last night before dinner. More than a study, but less than a finished full or half sheet watercolor in my normal style (tight - illustration).
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