“Misfat Al Breen”
HERE'S THE STORY
Misfat Al Breen, in Arabic, means “the place of the al Breeni people.” One of the unique customs of the Omanis living in the smaller villages of the interior is that they don’t tend to tear down the first house their ancestors built when though subsequent generations have moved into a new, modern dwelling. In fact, the new house is often right next to the mud-brick and wood homestead house. Maybe the family likes to remember where they came from, but I don’t know for sure. When I painted this abandoned house in Misfat Al Breen, I wanted to put the modern dwellings in the background to reflect this practice. In reality, though, the new house wouldn’t have been built so far way. More likely, my back was against a newer place as I took the photo that was the reference for this painting.
