Leopard

This is Tyson, a very old gentleman who roamed happily on the Munyawana Reserve, minding his own "leopard business". We got to know him well over the years and I was lucky enough to be part of a team who had to dart him to check on the collar he was wearing, and his general well being. What a humbling experience it was to admire, touch, smell, feel his heart beat, in the middle of the night, in the wild. We stayed close by him till he came round safely, and then the whole team drove back to camp in silence. I think we were all wondering what the future was to hold in store for this magnificent cat. Unfortunately  leopards are being decimated in huge numbers, for their skins. Sadly, this was his end as well a few years later.........

Black on white

A group of us artists in Hluhluwe  are painting up a storm for our forthcoming exhibition called " RED ALERT" to raise money towards aiding the sorry plight of our rhino. Living among rhino,seeing them on a daily basis, personally knowing the vets who have to dash to their rescue, makes us even more aware of  what life would be like without these beautiful creatures. And to think that MAN is responsible for this sorry state of affairs is just too much to bear thinking about. Can we possibly be so cruel and ruthless? I feel ashamed of the human race. Anyway, as individuals we cannot make much of a dent, but together we can make a difference. So.... we are raising money to specifically help the Hluhluwe rhino, 'our rhino" by assisting the Honorary Rangers build a hangar for the "Bantam" aircraft donated to Emzemvelo KZN by WWF.

Here is one of my first paintings. It is a black rhino on a white back ground. I must admit rhino, black or white, are one of my favourite animals and I am passionately committed to saving them,,,can you imagine world without these stunning prehistoric creatures?

Workshop

We have just had a wonderful workshop in my studio. My good friend, mentor, fellow artist  Anne Cleveland, came to share her creative knowledge and inspiration with a group of artists in Hluhluwe.We painted flowers- roses in very sweeping, bold strokes and water lilies in Monet's style.  Phew...not so easy!!We were going to paint these en plein air but the lilies on our pond remained closed due to the cold weather...so we had to inprovise and work from photos in the studio. The workshop was such fun and stretched the mind somewhat. here is a photo of me in action as well as the  painting of roses I did.