Paul’s Photos and Art
Going on Art Safari
In September 2007 I went on my fifth Art Safari with artist Mary Anne Bartlett. These trips have been an amazing adventure and a valuable learning experience. During this time I have gone from someone with no painting experience to someone who can produce passable watercolours like the two above. I have also learnt an awful lot about myself and other people. All this while viewing with a child like wonder the amazing wildlife of Africa.
Quite often these trips involve walking safaris. The peace and tranquility of going into the wild on foot is amazing. The sounds are so completely different from my normal life, the constant background hum of computers, air conditioning and traffic being replaced by the roar of lions, the “work harder” call of the Cape Turtle Dove and the laughing of hippos. Walking though a vast expanse of nothing, inspecting foot prints, plants, bugs and pooh is surprisingly engaging. Although on the last trip we walked within 100 metres of lions, elephants and a couple of giraffes.
One mornings drive stands out in my memory. Mary Anne and I went out for a drive with a guide on the Masai Mara. We came across an Elephant and her child quietly eating and then spent 30 minutes sitting in their company, drawing and painting them. The elephants all the time roaming around the truck, happy for us to be there. This was quite magical and I thought it would take some beating as an experience. However a few minutes later we found 14 Lions sleeping under some bushes. We were the only people there and we spent another 30 minutes painting and drawing them. Wonderful.
With over twenty years of working with computers around the world, I decided it was time for a change. Here’s how I rediscovered art and Africa
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