2022 was the first year we could travel internationally again after the covid pandemic. My mom had planned a tour of Israel that had been delayed until April and I was lucky enough to join her and my aunt and grandma. I didn’t think I would have enough time for my whole oil plein air set up, so for this trip I opted to bring only my gouache paints and a sketchbook. For anyone unfamiliar with gouache, it is a bit like watercolor, but dries transparent and can be reactivated with water. It is ideal for traveling. Especially in the group tour setting that we were going to be experiencing. I wanted to be able to capture what I wanted as fast as possible, and gouache helped me with that goal.

I flew in to Switzerland to meet my family members joining on the tour, and from there we flew to Tel Aviv. We waited at the hotel enjoying the beach, until the tour began. Once it started, we saw some interesting sites in the city, then headed up o Caeserea Maritimus, Mt Tabor, Mt Carmel, and then to Nazareth.

*Gouache painting of the Caeserea Maritimus Roman Amphitheater ruins*

We then headed out to Tel Megiddo and Cesaerea Philippi with some incredible ancient ruins.

We spent some time on the shores of Galilee or Tiberius, including at Capernaum and Magdala. We were able to eat fish caught in the sea and took a boat ride during the sunset.

We next traveled to Jerusalem by way of Bet’Shean, the Jordan River, Qumran, the Dead Sea, and Wadi Qelt.

*Across the river (Jordan’s side of the Jordan River),*
*in gouache*

Our stay in Jerusalem brought lots of beautiful sites in the old city, as well as delicious food and famous views. I was especially impressed by the layers of culture, history, and religion on display.

*Painting the old city, Jerusalem*
*in gouache*

*Scan from my sketchbook*
*Bethesda, Jerusalem*

*The Garden Tomb, gouache on paper, SOLD, prints available*

Our final stops brought us to Bethlehem and finally to Masada, an old Roman palace in the middle of the desert. From there we headed over the border into Jordan.

Jordan was even more of the desert life experience. We stayed in Aqaba on the Red Sea, spent some time in Wadi Rum and rode some camels, and finally got to hike into Petra, the ancient Roman era city carved into a red rock canyon. We flew out of Amman, to head back to Switzerland. Overall the culture and history presented in the tour was impressive and I learned so much, and got to see and experience so much as well. I also came away with it inspired and motivated artistically. The desert scenery was familiar to me as an Utah resident and made me appreciate the red rock and desert even more.

Amber’s Travels: Israel & Jordan

Amber’s Travels: Switzerland, Part 1