Lana

Cuzco, Peru

WENDY GAUNTLETT-SHAW – ARTIST



30”x30” Oil on Canvas

Original $3000

Fine Art Giclee Reproduction: $700

(On Canvas, Stretched and Gallery wrapped, ready to hang)

10% Donated for micro loans to women

High in the Andes this woman spins the llama wool twirling the tool with her hands. They are delicate yet callused and agile. They know the routine. Her young son who sits with her is not happy to be here. He looks at me as I take the photos. He has a scowl on his face as if saying “I don’t want to be here for you to take my photo”. I cannot include him in my painting.

It is cold. She wears her woolen clothes with her top hat, decorated with patterns, different than other hats we had seen. The location had wonderful stone walls,  precisely engineered. This one had a serpent meandering through it.

The hands, yes it is the hands once again, that speak to me more than the expression of her face. She is not revealing to me who she is – there is a mask of a smile, harshness with a reluctant presence. Her hands show nimbleness – the comfort lives in the repetition of the doing. The llama sits at her side providing the wool and warmth. This is Lana, wool in Spanish.