Prayer for Timbuktu - large Wallpaper bysusaninparis

This design is a prayer for the country of Mail, which is currently under seige by North African Islamist extremist groups and indigenous Touaregs who seized the northern half of the country last April. The design is based on a "recycled" photo, and most Africans are geniuses at appropriate technology and repurposing used materials. I chose the colorway to represent the encroaching Sahara dessert, which is still interspersed with green landscapes, as the the Niger river flows mightily during the rainy season. In 1996 I had the trip of a livetime when my husband and I drove from Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Mopti, Mail, then flew to Timbuktu. We marveled at the ancient mudbrick mosques and delighted in the warm hospitality we received at every turn. We were invited to go back to Mopti in a motorized piroque (largish dug out canoe) and the trip took three days and nights. We ate the fish caught from the boat and slept in locally-purchased blankets on the shore, under the stars. It was magic.