Syria: closed until further notice

That completely sums it up! Very poignant! Lovely painting though.

Thanks, Linda. Yes, it's exactly why I painted it. As you say, says it all.

Very effective painting.

Thanks, Sandra. Effective and fiddly!

They really ought to invite you to write an article on how to capture the light in a painting.

Tony, what an interesting comment. When I lived in Oman an interesting exercise was to paint just the shadows in a painting of, say, buildings or a cluster of things like a palm garden. Just painting those strong shadows brought out the 3D objects. Not so easy in European light!