When we left Ireland, we didn't bring a lot of stuff.
We had a big, checked suitcase and a carry-on suitcase each, and two backpacks in total. One of the carry-ons had most of my gadgets: my brand new drone, my GoPro, and some accessories. One of the backpacks had my laptop, the other backpack an older laptop. Aside from this, I had to bring the PC I used for work at the time, an iMac, that I had wrapped with its original packaging without the box, and lots of plastic foil, t-shirts stuck inside to protect it from breaking. That used up a huge amount of space. So other than a bunch of clothes, and some personal items we really didn't want to leave behind, which were mainly photos in my case, there wasn't much space for other things. Funny enough, I still think we have too much crap haha.

However, when @camthecreator came our way, I booked him on a flight with Turkish airlines. Aside from good food, this airline is also known for being more generous when it comes to the luggage you're allowed to bring. So instead of just one suitcase, they allowed two. My friend Judith bought another suitcase for me, and send it with Cameron to bring here for me.

The Surprise Suitcase Contents

Of course, Judith tried to speak to me about what I wanted in this suitcase as much as possible. But in the end, there was only little time, and due to the different time zones, it's not always possible to respond right away.
Therefore, half of the content of the suitcase was a big surprise for me!

Aside from another stack of photos, some baby memories I had kept, like their first shoes, and some old hard drives (more photos!), Judith had stuck my old folder in there that contained some of my drawings and paintings.
I say 'old' folder because I haven't touched the thing in years...

In Ireland, I attended art school for a while.
Well, two years actually. It wasn't college but kind of the school you'd go to to prepare for the college art classes.
It was good enough for me and it was great to learn what I learned because although I used to draw and paint quite a bit in my youth, there were still techniques that I'd never used before, or even knew about.

Then there was also the case of the good teacher and the bad one. Both taught me a lot. The last one especially what not to do. And when I say 'bad', I mean the kind that hovers over you, looks over your shoulder, and then hums and mumbles, and then has the nerve to pull your pencil or paint brush out of your hands, and does to your work what she would do...
Adding different colours of paint and such...
Making it her work - not yours, basically.
She used to be a high school art teacher, and that explained a lot, although I couldn't imagine any high school kids appreciating that kind of 'teaching'.
Anyway, since she treated us like high school kids, I treated her like I was one so in those moments, I'd just get up and leave.

I'd go upstairs to the breakroom, usually walk past the principal's office, who was also the good teacher, and get myself a cup of coffee and let off some steam.
Sometimes she'd see me walk past the office and if she had time, she'd come out to have a chat. By the way I'd stomp up the stairs, she usually knew what time it was...

Anyway. Long story short: With her I could actually talk about some work, and get new ideas without feeling like my opinion didn't matter.
One day when I came up the stairs again, fuming, she gave me a canvas to work on, and some oil paint. Only a few colours. Black, white, and red. She told me to clear my mind for a while, and paint something that was important to me. Anything.

I did as she said, cleared my mind, and thought about what I thought was important for a bit. Like a miracle, this picture I'd once seen came to mind. It was a picture somewhere, possibly National Geographic, with two girls, one about 6, and the other 7 years old, on a dirt road in their village in Vietnam. Their hair was tangled, their dresses torn and dirty.
They were either sisters or friends.

But what I loved the most about that photo was that despite of their obvious poverty, they still seemed to have a good time, with each other. And above all: They had friendship.

So here we go, this is what I came up with. I called it simply:
"Friendship"
Forgive me for the line in the middle of the canvas. It's been folded. I may try to get it out somehow. I'm only an amateur so don't expect a master piece hehe.
Let me know what you think!