In jajur, the I met a painter in the village, a man who only paints when inspired, and never selling his work. He hasn’t painted in months because daily chores have taken him away from his work, but he is now ready to continue. His work is inspired by everyday life, but mostly nature, and I can see why. As I left the village and climbed up to the mountains into the forests of fall color, yellow, red, bright green and brown. And behind me, fields of bold yellow and black, plowed agricultural fields of geometric patterns stretching off into the distance. Those same colors I saw Avetisyan’s paintings. He captured Armenia, not by painting churches and Ararat, but the landscape of everyday life, just like me. It’s as if time hasn’t moved, but stood still. The only difference is that there is more plastic and garbage floating around the ground of the countryside.
