In the summer of 2020, we managed to squeeze in a roadtrip down south to Eilat between Covid lockdowns.  It was my first time making the 5-hour drive to this popular vacation city at the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea.

The forested green foothills of the Carmel mountains quickly slipped behind us as we headed south: through Tel Aviv, past Jerusalem, along the western border of the Dead Sea, around the rims of desert craters, and through the winding desert roads where everything around us was the exact same sandy-tan color.

When we finally arrived in Eilat, I was unprepared for the explosion of color after 100 miles of unbroken tan and blue.  Beach chairs with crisp white towels under tall green fig palms, laid out on the beach next to the bright teal Bay of Aqaba. Just across the water to the east, the caramel-colored mountains of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and to the west, the easternmost deserts of Egypt.

Just like most of you, I grew up listening to those Old Testament stories - and always loved the tales in Exodus about Moses and the flight from Egypt. But I admit - I never visualized tropical palms and bright teal waves when I heard the pastor preach about Moses parting The Red Sea.

DIMENSIONS:

• 9 inches by 12 inches (23 cm x 31 cm)

WATER:

• The Red Sea

• Collected and bottled up in Aqaba Bay, in the Israeli city of Eilat

MATERIALS:

• Daniel Smith Watercolors

• Micron Archival Pens

• Arches Cold Press Paper