Africa on my Mind

Here in the dead of winter, my thoughts increasingly turn to escape from the cold and dark. One month from today, I will touch down at Johannesburg Int. Airport, and start my month-long safari. Of course I really look forward to seeing the big African animals outside of a zoo setting, but my main interest is in seeing the smaller critters. Especially the birds, and reptiles. I can't wait.
Before each exotic adventure, I like to do a series of small paintings of the wildlife of the region I will be visiting. I take these paintings with me, and either try to sell them to fellow tourists, or to Art galleries. Sometimes I trade them for lodging in some nice ecolodges. Once I was robbed of all my belongings in Costa Rica. The thieves got my passport, credit cards, traveller's checks, driver's license, and worst of all. they got my brand new camera equipment, and my beloved Ziess binoculars. Thankfully the thieves did not have an eye for great art, and they did'nt take my paintings. I was able to sell them to a wonderful little gallery, (Namu), in San Jose. This helped me to continue on my vacation, and return home safely.

This is the first of my Africa paintings, Cat in the Grass, 9x12" It's dangerous to become enamoured with your own work, but I'm happy with this one.

They can't all be winners. The actual painting does look much better than this photo, but it does'nt compare to the Cheetah. It is a Malachite Kingfisher, 8x10". I'll do a few more paintings, and post them on the blog before I leave for South Africa.