Watercolor 9" x 14"
Orig Photo, Mandy Martyn
I must admit religious symbols are not something I'd choose to paint, however the drama and the rawness of that stairway got to me - it's almost primal the way it reaches up and out, as if it's trying to placate the sea.
This small chapel is on the coast about 35 miles north of Porto. It's name: Nossa Signora da Guia or Our Lady of Guides - looks out over the Atlantic, which you can just glimpse beyond the rocks at the left. It's location and that dramatic stairway must have been visible from quite far out and perhaps was first sight of land for the fishermen, quite probably sailing home from as far away as the banks off Newfoundland where they'd fished for cod. Imagine their relief when the chapel hove in sight: LAND and HOME!
This small chapel is on the coast about 35 miles north of Porto. It's name: Nossa Signora da Guia or Our Lady of Guides - looks out over the Atlantic, which you can just glimpse beyond the rocks at the left. It's location and that dramatic stairway must have been visible from quite far out and perhaps was first sight of land for the fishermen, quite probably sailing home from as far away as the banks off Newfoundland where they'd fished for cod. Imagine their relief when the chapel hove in sight: LAND and HOME!
A bright sunny day above. I wondered about BAD weather, and imagined "a dark and stormy night" with a screaming gale at sea and a priest kneeling below the cross, his robes whipped by the wind and his face streaming with rain as he prayed that the incoming fleet make safe harbour.... WOW! Quite takes you breath away!
My cousin took the photo about 2 years ago. Sadly no-one around to provide information so this past week we did a lot of detective work to find out more about this chapel. Thank you Mandy.
Enjoy!
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