The world we live in is a fascinating subject of inquiry. I am a geographer and an aspiring landscape painter. Geography and landscape painting share a common concern - the study of the relationship between people and environs. If one wants to learn anything, and art in particular, educational resources are available at every turn. But, for me, the greatest teacher for landscape painting is the landscape itself. Constantly changing in appearance, it is there always for us to appreciate its attributes and learn from them. For me, landscape painting elicits appreciation of natural processes, reflection on the historical past, and awareness of the potentialities of human action embodied in each place and, onoccasion, provides a vanue for philosophical exploraion and emotional release. Contemporary and historic landscapes painted in some 60 countries reflect the beauty, wonder and spirit of places around the world.