This is my painting of a gate (bab in Arabic) leading out of the medina in the city of Meknes in Morocco. The composition is based on a photo I took during a backpacking trip in 2003.

Though not as large or famous as the medina in Fes, the old quarter of Meknes featured the same warren of narrow alleys packed with vendors of all types, as well as homes, mosques and madrasas.

Travelling solo in Morocco without a grasp of any Arabic was challenging, though I was sometimes able to fall back on my grade school French to get directions, and people were happy to help me. The weather was hot even in October, and the locals in their loose-fitting traditional garb looked much more comfortable than I felt in my jeans and long-sleeved shirt.