Clouds Over Monument Valley 1980

David Chethlahe Paladin made this watercolour of Monument Valley, and, oh boy, does it glow with feeling. Just imagine the way he worked with the brush, coaxing those blues and purples across the page, letting the pigment bloom and blend like a desert sunset bleeding into the night. I bet he stood there, thinking about the stories that the land holds, the spirits that dance in the twilight. That figure – a dancer or a spirit, maybe? – poised between worlds. And the sky, alive with stars like whispers of ancient knowledge, secrets. It makes me wonder how he felt, painting this, trying to capture not just a place, but a feeling. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's watercolours – that same quiet intensity, a search for something beyond the visible. Paladin's painting isn't just a picture; it's an echo of a culture, a tradition, a dance between the earth and the stars. Painting is a conversation, one artist speaking to another across time.