Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Light Continent



In January 2009 I returned from a trip of a lifetime- Africa!! Growing up when I did, I had false images of the continent- Ramar of the Jungle, jokes and cartoons about cannibals cooking white men in large pots, the Dark Continent. The news today abounds with stories of an AIDS pandemic and unstable governments. We put off going to Africa until we realized we better do it now while we could.

Our trip to Namibia, Botswana and Zambia was awe inspiring. The scenery is fantastic! The night sky offers an ocean of stars; the bluest daytime sky is drenched in sunlight; the colors are shimmering and saturated; the people are charming, warm and friendly; the quiet of the wilderness is reverential; the animals were amazing!! There was enough stimulation- visual, sensory, sensual- to inspire decades of art. I am just beginning to scratch the surface and do not know yet where it will all lead. I do know I want to go back. Africa is a complex and vast continent.

The Red Earth is my impression of Namibian sand, mountains and sky.

2 comments:

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  2. From Sandra Benheim:
    Beautiful photos on your blog- would love to see more! The artwork right under "The Light Continent" title has amazing color and I think is very successful. See you at the meeting...Sandra

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