Brugges, Belgium

Brugges
This was my first painting, oil on canvas.
In the summer of 1999 I worked very intense hours in a Kosovar refugee camp, which was mentally and emotionally draining. Closing my eyes to sleep each night, I would see dozens of people coming at me in a panic, asking me if I had located their missing family members, or some similar crisis that I struggled to find words that would be helpful.
When the camp closed, I took a month off and traveled alone to have some solitude and find beauty in the world. No cell phone, not even an email account. My first inspiration to paint came to me while standing on a bridge in Brugges, Belgium. I was so struck by the beauty of the rich colors and the calm water's reflection. I snapped a photograph and decided to try my hand at an oil painting upon returning home. I did so, and my first painting ever is probably still my favorite painting... I can still remember standing on that bridge. I gifted it to my mother, and it hangs in her dining room.