Daily painting #589 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel
We have just got home from a week long trip to The Kruger National Park, a large game reserve in Mpumalanga north of South Africa and bordering Mozambique. I love nothing better than time away in the African bush and we stay in a rustic house in the open bush just outside of the game reserve. The area we stay in has animals roaming around but is fenced in order to keep the main predators out. But leopards can't be kept out by fences so its not a good idea to go walking around at night...at least not too far from the fire! You all know how much my husband loves to make (and cook over) a fire (yes...a direct descendent from the caveman) so we had a healthy fire roaring every night!
Our connection on our mobile phone was weak, but the data connection on my laptop would crash every time I tried to do anything involving images so I had to give in to the fact that sharing Paintings in the post just wasn't going to happen unless I wasted my holiday fighting (and getting madly frustrated) with an inadequate internet connection. The irony is that the whole point of being in the bush on holiday is to actually take a break from all electronics and the stresses of every day and live a simple and SO satisfying existence for a few days. So I relinquished my frustrations and threw myself into enjoying time with my paintbrushes and paint, my camera (which goes everywhere with me), my family and this little piece of Africa which is just like a little jewel and needs all the love, attention and passion it deserves as so little of this space and wild life is left. Do you know that the Rhino is the one animal that has no natural predators/threats? It's only known predator is humans...the rest of the story speaks for itself...a tragedy!
So over the next few days I will share a few of the little daily paintings I did while I was away and I did promise to share some of my photos so I will do that too...with the help of my healthy home internet connection! And a large dose of reality and nostalgia ... while I love being home, the bush feels like another lifetime away already so I too will enjoy pouring over my photos deciding which ones to share with you. It always amazes me how once you get home you slip into daily routine again so quickly and it's only now that I am home that I truly understand the blessing of being disconnected (in the literal and figurative way) for a whole week! But I am back and looking forward to sharing with you again ...
A Grey Lourie bird is commonly known as the 'Go-away' bird because it has a piercing repetitive chirp that sounds as if he is saying, "go-away go-away go-away". It is fascinating to listen to when you first come across one but after a while you really do wish he would simply GO-AWAY and not come back ...for a while! I had to paint him quickly because he kept moving so I had to try capture the essence of him rather than worry too much about detail. He wouldn't behave as a good model should and stay still....he was too busy telling me to 'Go-away'! I have also shared some of the other beautiful birds that came to say hello during the week...beautiful creatures I am sure you will agree.
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