Travel Sketches #1: Barbados Seascape

In 2007, my family and I visited the beautiful island of Barbados. As is my custom on these trips to the small islands, I packed my small Reeves Sketch Book, Watersoluble pencils, Paints and Brushes. Vacations are meant for relaxing, and nothing relaxes me more than time spent with art. Also sometimes a good book on the beach is not enough. On this particular trip, I carried a canvas board, having only discovered them a few months before and was dying to try it out.

What stood out to me the most on my trip were the beautiful blue beaches of Barbados. I swear, if I had to choose another island to live on Barbados would be the clear winner. I remember falling in love with Port St Charles, and fantasying of living in one of the homes where I could open my back door and step onto my boat or take a dive into the ocean.

The following is the painting that I started while in Barbados that I ended up finishing in T&T from the postcard I bought. I unfortunately do not remember which beach this was! I think at the time settled on doing this seascape, because it was a breathtaking view and the process was unfamiliar to me. I always wanted to capture the different shades the ocean turns when light reflects off of it but I thought it to be completely outside of my comfort zone so this piece was a personal challenge for the holidays.

Barbados Seascape (2007), Acrylic on Canvas Board. © 2012 Shazanna Khan

Doodle in the Sand: Quinam Beach

I visited Quinam Beach on the South Coast of Trinidad in August. It was such a beautiful day and the sky was gorgeous. The sand had such an interesting quality to it- lots of clay if you removed the top layer of it. I had fun playing with it. :) The following is one of my creations.

My drawing in the sand of a view from the South Coast of T&T

One of my uncles was a big fan of this beach. I didn't understand the allure until I went myself. The last time I visited I was a child and I barely remembered it at all. It exceeded my expectations. After a lovely cool drive through a forest reserve with trees towering on either size to get to the beach, the calm waves gently crashing on the shore beckoned to me. I knew I had to take a dip. Trinidad is such a beautiful place!

Because of the time of day and slightly cloudy skies, the weather was perfect and the shores were not crowded with only a few other families having a similar idea to us as well. The beach facilities were redone in recent years and the beach and environs were well maintained. Also the drive as I mentioned before was relaxing on smooth well paved roads.  No potholes!! I don't think many people know this and usually have a negative image of Quinam. Though on that day, I can't say I minded. It was like having your own personal stretch of paradise, which may have been spoilt with a high influx of people.

It was nice to simply lounge in the water and relax with waves gently lapping around you as you stared out into the horizon, catching a glimpse of South America if you looked hard enough, or if you looked inland at the tall towering cliffs overgrown with vegetation, from your seat at the lovely rock pools only visible at low tide. Some parts were so untouched from man-made influence, that I pictured how it must have looked when Christopher Columbus first saw the 3 Sisters/ Trinity Hills. Did this area look the same as it had back then?

Some photos of my brother and uncle catching up on life together.