LAKE NAKURU
I have just returned from a two week trek through my beloved Africa on a mission to find brand new painting material.   The first stop was at Lake Nakuru in Kenya.  This is the first time I have visited Kenya since my very first visit to Africa back in 1990.  Lake Nakuru is an artist's paradise, with millions of flamingos stretching right round the shores of the lake.
 
I was fortunate enough to witness an amazing spectacle, where literally hundreds of thousands of these birds were on the move due to being spooked by maribou storks which had attacked and killed a couple of the flock.  The sky in front of me was full of pink flamingos all flying to the other end of the lake to safety.  How do I paint all those birds?  Don't know yet!  But watch this space!   I will also post a short video clip of this event in my video area soon.

MASAI MARA
Next stop was the mighty Masai Mara also in Kenya.  Famous for the great wildebeest migration every year, this was my first visit to this part of the world and I loved every minute of it.  I didn't get to see any of the river crossings with all the crocs waiting to pick off the weakest animals but it didn't matter as there was a wealth of visual excitement everywhere I looked. 

Not least of which was this lovely old bull elephant.  I came across him one evening just strolling along in full view on the open plains in lovely evening sunlight.  With those huge tusks I know he will make a great painting and will doubtless feature in more than one of my canvases!














These cheetahs are related to the ones made famous by the BBC Big Cat Diary series.  Daughter to Kike with her two cubs.  Again, they will soon feature in new paintings and will also appear in video clips on this site very soon.

There was a wealth of new subjects for me, and not just the animals.  I believe that if you go to the Masai Mara and only look for the animals you are missing half of the story.  There is so much drama and atmosphere in the landscape itself that is essential to wildlife painting.  And above all the light must be right (private joke!)




THE MOUNTAIN GORILLAS OF RWANDA
My final stop was very special - to see these amazing powerful but gentle creatures at such close quarters was a great honour.  To be mock charged by the silverback was another!  It only happened once but gave me a bit of a fright.  I saw two gorilla groups - the first was the Kwitonda group living at the base of Gahinga mountain, and the other was the Sabyinyo group living at the base of Sabyinyo moutain in an open grassy area called Nyarusizi.     This is one of the females of the Sabyinyo group.

The park is called the Volcanoes National Park and, as its name implies, is an area of extinct volcanoes known as the Virunga Mountains.

I find gorillas fascinating to paint, with a similar excitement I get when I paint elephants, in that they are big and powerful.  And yet, spending a couple of hours with these animals has shown me that they are by no means aggressive unless they feel threatened and, bearing in mind what Man is doing to their habitat, it is incredible that they are so tolerant of us.

Video footage and new paintings will be posted here in due course.