Challenges

Well, I had hoped to be able to post some wonderful pictures from my giant gladioluses, irises and other wonderful flowers that were about to come into bloom when I had a suprise visit from a group of baboons that tore up every single one of the bulbs... s i g h... also they took a swing in the hibiscus (that did not go very well either), snapped a few branches of the wild camphor and managed to get into the studio where they thank heavens strangely decided not to tear anything apart (they normally does that just for the fun of it). That visit was followed by a group of elephants that helped themselves to some of the larger aloes that also was about to go into bloom, and probably either dikdiks (a small antelope) or hares and white tailed mongoose (which also comes into the house to drink water and feed on insecrts attracted to the kerosene lamps on the terrace) have almost completely browsed down my new bougainvilleas... and all the nasturtiums... Needless to say I am not too amused... but such is life when wanting a garden and living in the wild, one just have to keep on trying - what survives, survives...

A I am not particularily fond of baboons I painted a BIG snake on the wall in the back garden (that gave me some satisfaction!) so I hope the remaining plants will be left alone during my stay in Norway for my summer exhibition...

Bluffalo “Bigear” Bull

I find that in order to get a painting going in a way that works for me during the process it is useful to have experienced the subject matter myself so that I can tell a story. Sometimes they are a bit silly, perhaps, but it is a fun way to work with colours and shapes - and this is one of those. Meet Bluffalo “Bigear” bull… acrylic on canvas 100x70 cm, it is the story of this large elderly African Buffalo that often come to graze in my garden… as you can see, his ears are very large and kind of pointed – the buffaloes are rather smelly, and their eyesight is not all that developed, so they use their hearing a lot to detect dangers…

I normally talk to the animals that come around to get them to know me and recognize that I am not of any danger – the “normal” animal behaviour – and, so, when Bluffalo is around the house now, mostly after dark (which is also why he is blue) he does not run away any longer but stand still, albeit on a distance, gazing in my direction and holding his ears out in a particular way perhaps as he recognize the sound of my voice as something familiar and not connected to any immediate danger…

The triangular leaves are from the Mollus Treblintifolius – the pepper tree – which is in abundance around the camp (the tree trunk belonging to it is what gives shade to the entrance to my studio) and the hill behind him is the view in front of our house, in which we often see elephants, impalas, waterbucks, zebras and the larger herd of buffalo that Bluffalo often hangs out with when he is tired of being alone… ah, the freedom of artistic expression is wonderful!

...addition: just as I finished writing this post I heard some noises from the part of my garden behind my studio, and there he was! did he feel someone was talking about him?

Living with the wild in the wild

Occasionally mothers will abandon their young ones for one reason or another; the mother might be unexperienced and abandons its calf or she has fallen prey to some predator making the baby an orphan.

It is never easy to know what to do in such a situation as often you do not know the correct circumstances regarding it being alone. What if the mother is somewhere close but hiding out of fear of humans? Or it might be away feeding telling the baby to "stay put!" So to leave it, hope for its mother to return is one option. But if in reasonable doubt, do you take it with you, knowing it might not be able to fend for itself in the wild as it grows up, "dooming"it to be semi domesticated? There are pros and cons depending on the specie involved so each situation must be evaluated in an individual way.

The other day we were faced with such a situation in camp. As the guides returned from their evening game drive they found a small Bush buck calf in the workshop. Being after dark, and a busy mecanical workshop not being a likely hidingplace for the shy antelope the staff decided to bring her to me.I called her Ariel, and as you can see I made my best to make her feel comfortable: a hot water bottle, pillows, shade and leaves to hide behind...

Ariel was weak and easy to handle and after some initial confusion she accepted the diluted cows milk I fed her with a pipette. The next day she seemed stronger and even came along for a short walk!

Young bucks need company so I took her with me to the studio where she seemed to have picked up strength from the previous day...


She had met with the dogs the day before and did not seem to mind them - she even tried to suckle Embe! (here seen in the background).

Unfortunately later that evening she all of a sudden seemed weaker. She made calling sounds, and even if I tried to figure out what to do she just grew weaker, so I let her into her box again hoping she just needed to rest. Alas. when I came back from dinner she had gone.

It was a blessing to have her for the few days she lived. It made me realize how prescious these little lives are, and how hard work it is for creatures of the wild to rear their young ones. It made me admire and respect even more those fortunate creatures that make it into adulthood. And it also reminds me how important it is to make sure we make space for our wildlife in our lives.