The House in the Dream

In 2008, I sent my wife an email with this image and one question:

“Want to move to Portugal?”

At the time, it wasn’t a plan. It was more like an idea — something that felt interesting, possible, and very far away.

She printed the image and kept it beside her desk for years.

We never knew exactly where the house was. I had found the image on a real estate site and saved it because it felt like something worth keeping.

Turns out, it stayed with us.

In 2021, we made the move.

And she brought that same print with her — faded by then, but still intact.

Recently, I used her faded copy as the starting point for this version, reworking it into something that felt more like a painting than a photograph.

It’s strange how a small image sent in an email can stay in motion for years.

Paul.