Sharing, an oil painting on the India theme.

I have always enjoyed doing close-ups in my paintings, just as I enjoy isolating them in my mind when I look at paintings in museums.

Sharing is what it is all about for us humans. We give, we receive, and filling each other's needs brings us joy and fulfills our own.

When in India, I often focus on the details of human interaction and use them as inspiration. The close-up of these two women includes a number of elements that make me love India. Even poor women, and there are a vast number of them, find colors and patterns that make their daily lives poetic and make them interesting to an artist. They will often wear the brightest colors they can find and look wonderful in them. They complement their textiles with jewelry and are rarely seen without their bangles which are often made of glass and come in a rainbow of hues.

The most delicious fresh fruits I have ever tasted were in Southern India. Every day I would purchase bananas, mangoes, pineapples, papayas and ate them as my evening meal. I found it ironic that the "poor" Indians generally had a better diet than Americans. They don't own refrigerators, food is always fresh and cooking is a big part of life. There are no supermarkets; even in the more modern apartment buildings, people would come with carts of fresh fruit and vegetables every day.

Do I idealize India? Not really. I recognize that there are plenty of problems there, but the realization of this should not blind us to the true beauty and simplicity of daily life there.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."