Painting in the Lolldaiga Hills
The green hills of Lolldaiga are full of elephants. Small babies who have to stretch to reach milk and are yet to master control of their trunk. Weavers, sunbirds and starlings have been feasting on the termites taking flight following the October rains, the ground softened so ready to be dug and a new colony begun. Striped hyena and silver-backed jackal stroll through the long grass and dried remnants of towering Lolldaiga fennel.
I’m filled with inspiration from this place! From the beautiful bat-eared foxes snuggled together in a pile by the den, to the smart looking reticulated giraffe ‘necking’ as the whip their slender necks into one another. The patient lioness masterfully stalking a lone impala, who woke from his snooze in the nick of time!
My first painting here, had to be from an incredible lion encounter. We noticed lions running in the distance and made our way over to find six adolescent males being chased by the three strong coalition of black maned lions. The dominant males were the father and uncles who had decided it was time for the youngsters to move out… at one point they caught up and accepted the submissive gestures from the adolescents, only to start chasing them off again. With six young males, three adult males and two lionesses (keeping out the way) there was a lot going on… not to mention a family unit of elephants with a young calf charging the lions when they ran too close.
Painting lions is irresistible when I’ve had so many wonderful encounters with these cats. ‘Lolldaiga Lionesses’ (80x70cm oil on canvas) captures the formidable power of these cats, even when they are resting.
We followed a lioness and large male lion to the dam to drink. After they moved off into the thick scrub we stayed for a sundowner, joining the Great White Pelicans which reflected beautifully in the water as the days light dimmed. As a flock of egrets flew past in the foreground, I knew what my next painting would be!
This painting had to be large and I wanted to have piece in which you discovered more as you looked, and loved exploring the different whites, from the soft pinky, apricots in the pelicans to the bluey shadows in the egrets.
Sketchbooks and SD cards are full and I will continue ‘painting’ on this inspiration for a long time to come, which will also include an exhibition of my experiences from Lolldaiga Hills on canvas!
A huge thank you to Moon, Ed and the team at Moon’s Camp for this incredible opportunity.
