I’ve been drawing and sketching for as long as I can remember but never had formal art training. When I was U.S. ambassador to Algeria (2008-2011) security restrictions were limiting my movement. I took advantage of enforced confinement with a systematic program of self-study in drawing. This led to perspective, light, and color. And watercolor. I was immediately drawn to the medium because of the degree of difficulty. You have to think ahead, deal with sudden changes, and devise solutions on the fly. I like a good challenge, and unlike oil and acrylics, there are no easy do-overs in watercolor. It’s like diplomatic work — no do-overs, you work with the world the way it is, not the way you would like it to be.
Do you have a favorite piece of artwork or series inspired by your experiences abroad? What was the story behind it?
Greece: My favorite subject was the Acropolis, the presiding spirit of the capital, which I painted many times in different ways. By the time I got to Greece, I had been painting for several years. Greece was in economic crisis, a radical leftist government had been voted into power and there had long been a strong undercurrent of anti-US feeling. The public affairs officer suggested I share my paintings on Twitter. I was skeptical, but the Greeks loved it. They are proud of their history and culture, justly so, and liked to see the U.S. ambassador painting it. In fact, they liked the paintings even more than our policy pronouncements. So my little Twitter account, and my watercolors, became a helpful adjunct to our public diplomacy.
Reality: I also painted less pleasant subjects. In Algeria, I did a watercolor of the bloated dead body of a young man who had drowned in the perilous crossing to Europe in search of a better life. In Jerusalem, I painted Damascus Gate, at the center of so much strife in the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In Afghanistan, I painted the hard eyes of a man whose son had killed four French soldiers. I did another of men on a wall in Faizabad, northern Afghanistan, where I had gone to pay a condolence call following the assassination of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani. In Greece, I painted scenes of desperate refugees during the surge of migrants in 2015.
David D. Pearce’s work is currently on display in our Freeport, Maine Showroom. The show, Home and Away: Maine Artists Exploring the World, runs from June 2025 through January 2026.
Acropolis from Temple of Hephaistos, Athens, Greece
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