This is a realistic oil painting on canvas by Mary Calengor.  It is entitled, “Venerable Trio”.  It is a detailed painting of three vessels.  Mary says that she only paints around 20 pieces a year.  She spends time on each painting, focusing on the detail and the light, which is certainly evident in this piece!

She says of this painting:

“I continue to be fascinated with the life of the Bedouin nomads and how little their lives have changed over the past 1000 years.  It is a life of searching for sources of water so that they and their animals can survive.  These nomads live in the desert because it is the world in which they were born, and the life they lead is very much the same as their fathers before them.  These vessels, the two on the left, were made from the precious mud that oozes from a desert stream or spring.  The third vessel was carved out of wood, all made by the hands of these amazing people.  I find so much beauty in these objects and marvel at the connection I feel to a life so different and so far away from my own.”