The Bedroom Waterfall

So if you’ve spend any significant time in the Old City of Jerusalem, you should know who “Cowboy” is, AKA “Zadi Nati” or simply: Nati Charles, the Prince of Tales.

Uncle Nati and Babi Irma, of blessed memory, have been part of my life since I was very young. It started with a connection to my father who made an accidental phone call around 1979. Since then, we’ve been close. Nati, who was a WWII Pilot, also taught me fencing, knife throwing, and all about the Masai. He is one of the coolest people you will meet.

So Uncle Nati and his wife, Nechama, asked me to paint an “Ein Gedi” style mural in their bedroom. It took me half a year to complete it, mostly because I was very busy. I took two days to do the first part, and left it in reasonably presentable fashion for the next six months or so. Below are some highlights form the process, from beginning to end.

The fun part in day 2 was that my first cousin was spending the summer at my parents’ home. He was looking for something to do so I put him to work, Karate Kid style. “Paint the fence: up – down!” even though what comes to mind for all of us is “Wax on, wax off!” You can hover over the collage images to see individual captions:

End of day 1

The Ibex – in progress

Reminds me of Karate Kid: “Paint the fence, up – down!”

Cousin helping out

The canyon mural, an ibex on the cliff above the falls with reeds along the base

The mural with the reeds painted in along the base of the wall

Finishing touches: The Gazelle

Signed it by the stairs

Finally, we can relax!

Almost as if I was in Ein Gedi

At the end of day 2, it was basically done, I thought. But there was a whole area behind the entrance door which was left blank. Nati and Nechama could not decide what they wanted on it. Meanwhile, they decided they want to have a gazelle, to give the authentic Ein Gedi look. I was in college, hard pressed finding time to work on any painting, all the more so a mural. But you know, it’s Uncle Nati!

Finally, I got my act together and added that cute little gazelle, and it was done! The sad part is that because of the shape of the bedroom and the lighting, it was very hard to get an angle on the entire wall. So you are seeing it in fragments. But if you want to see it for yourself, you’ll have to visit Nati and Nechama, in the old city. But be warned, you might be pampered.