Artists and Arabs; Or, Sketching in Sunshine

When the London art season fades, a band of painters abandons studios for the open air, traveling from the Scottish hills to the Italian lakes in pursuit of fresh light. Their summer wanderings culminate in a lively debate over where to spend the winter—return to Rome's familiar ruins or seek a new horizon. A tossed coin decides: they will head to Algeria, hoping the desert sun will keep their sketches vivid through the colder months.

The journey begins on a slow‑moving boat across Lake Maggiore, then a rattling train along the Corniche, each leg filled with practical worries and vivid observations of ports, dunes and market sounds. Blackburn blends travel guide details with the artist’s eye, describing how the harsh North African light transforms colours and shapes on paper. Listeners are invited to follow the sketchers’ footsteps, feeling the heat on their backs and hearing the distant calls of the bazaar as the canvas comes alive.