Katherine Hamilton:
Off the Mayan Trail
Green Pebble Autumn 2007 issue

Guatemala: A nation notorious for its
drug crimes, corruption, lack of human
rights, and murders. Hardly the usual
destination for a genteel woman armed
only with a sketch book, paints and a
fistful of U.S. dollars. And yet it was
to this South American country that Suffolk artist Katherine Hamilton set
out in 2005, dressed ‘like an old scarecrow’ in order to look as ‘revolting’ and uninteresting as possible, determined to pass through Guatemala City unnoticed so that her real journey, into the Western Highlands, could begin.

'Guatemala’s capital city, the largest agglomeration in Central America, spreads across a flattened mountain range run through by deep ravines,’ states the latest Lonely Planet guide. ‘It’s not a pretty site.’

Contrast this with the Western Highlands, which the guide describes variously as ‘incredibly beautiful’, ‘vibrant, colourful and fascinating’ and ‘dramatic’.

It was no accident then, that Katherine chose this remote region for her latest inspiration. Having already built up an impressive catalogue of paintings in locations such as Senegal, India and Madagascar, Katherine makes a policy of deliberately avoiding tourist spots in favour of unexplored locations; places where the beauty is flawed, interesting and gritty.
And the Western Highlands did not disappoint. When Katherine arrived at her lodgings she was immediately drawn to the vista of the Zunil Valley snaking its way into the hills. This scene was to inspire no fewer than five paintings, each exploring the textures, colours and light of an agricultural area which grows an enormous range of crops on terraces carved into lava-rich fields....

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