The best creative inspiration comes from spending time indulging in the things that you’re most passionate about. The drive behind my work is undoubtedly my astute passion for the African wilderness. I’m at my best when I’m in the bush, I feel calm, happy, stimulated and above all fully inspired to pick up a paintbrush!
Any one who loves the bush , and I mean LOVES the bush PROPERLY (with the raw, all-consuming sincerity of a true bush-nut) will know that it’s not any one thing in particular that makes us love-drunk when it comes to the wilderness. It’s hard to explain really because it involves so many different aspects, and it’s the feeling that comes along with actually being immersed in it, it’s emotional, it’s spiritual.
It is, in a sense, everything as an entirely. It’s the shapes of the twisted, tangles trees that dot the landscape. The sound of the breeze as it tickles and tugs at the tufts of delicate grasses that sweep the endless savanna, bathing it in a pallet of ever changing colours which melt and transform as the sun slowly stretches from east to west. It’s the songs that are sweetly sung by the creatures of the veld , sometimes obvious and obnoxious, sometimes soft and secretive. It’s the vast array of aromas that churn across the terrain , colliding with your senses to create true and deep enlightenment… that “ah -ha” moment when everything makes sense and the world seems uncomplicated and tranquil.
That may sound somewhat idiotically romantic but I firmly believe that one should be allowed to sound like an idiot when one describes true love ! There’s so much more to it than that really, it’s hard to stop once I get going but I know I had better cut myself off before I make myself uncontrollably bush sick!!
Anyway, having recently returned from an incredible two weeks in the low veld I’m feeling incredibly inspired and ready to go. I just wanted to share with you a few highlights from our trip… just the kind of experiences that have me itching to get back into the studio… in between planning the next bush-break of course! 😉
