I painted this on the city’s promenade over a series of mornings before the city heat had started to work its debilitating best.

This seaside avenue, Avenida Atlântica, is paved in the famous wave layout known as “mar largo”, as a nod to the city’s Portuguese cultural heritage.  The pattern was created by engineer Pinheiro Furtado in Portugal at the beginning of the 19th century for the Rossio Square in Lisbon,  then representing the meeting of the Tagus River with the ocean.  In Rio it represents the waves of Copacabana Beach.

Having painted so much jungle it felt odd painting man-made forms and patterns again.  I thank two local Rio beach girls who kept me fed and watered each day whilst I painted.