Portraits
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The Nail
Pastel on Mi Tientes Tex ($POA)
50 cm W x 70 cm H
I had spent a few weeks in Madagascar when I walked past this little boy standing outside his mother’s small, basic house in the outskirts of Antananarivo (the capital). He had the remnants of tears on his face, and I wonder what had upset him. It was only after I took the photo that I realised he held a nail in his hand as a “plaything”.Read more
The Nail
Pastel on Mi Tientes Tex ($POA)
50 cm W x 70 cm H
I had spent a few weeks in Madagascar when I walked past this little boy standing outside his mother’s small, basic house in the outskirts of Antananarivo (the capital). He had the remnants of tears on his face, and I wonder what had upset him. It was only after I took the photo that I realised he held a nail in his hand as a “plaything”.Quick View -
Mongolian Eagle Hunter
Pastel on Mi Tientes Tex paper ($POA)
89 cm W x 70 cm H
Several years ago, my husband and I had a great good fortune to be able to travel to Western Mongolia and attend the famed Golden Eagle Festival. What magnificent days we spent there, learning about, and being immersed in ancient Mongolian culture. This interesting face was one of the “judges” and his garb was typical of what all the other participants were wearing, thick fur hats and coats to keep out the cold.Read more
Mongolian Eagle Hunter
Pastel on Mi Tientes Tex paper ($POA)
89 cm W x 70 cm H
Several years ago, my husband and I had a great good fortune to be able to travel to Western Mongolia and attend the famed Golden Eagle Festival. What magnificent days we spent there, learning about, and being immersed in ancient Mongolian culture. This interesting face was one of the “judges” and his garb was typical of what all the other participants were wearing, thick fur hats and coats to keep out the cold.Quick View -
Himba Queen
Watercolour base and pastels on Mi Tientes Tex ($POA)
54 cm W x 73 cm H
Another wonderful trip overseas saw us in Namibia, Africa where we met and spent time with the Himba tribe. Himba people, especially women, are famous for covering themselves with otjize paste, a cosmetic mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment. Otjize cleanses the skin over long periods due to water scarcity and protects from the hot and dry climate of the Kaokoland, as well as from insect bites. It gives Himba people’s skin and hair plaits a distinctive texture, style, and orange or red tinge, and is often perfumed with the aromatic resin of the omuzumba shrub. Otjize is considered foremost a highly desirable aesthetic beauty cosmetic, symbolizing earth’s rich red color and blood, the essence of life, and is consistent with the OvaHimba ideal of beauty. Women who have been married for about a year or have had a child wear an ornate headpiece called the Erembe, sculptured from sheepskin, with many streams of braided hair coloured and put in shape with otjize pasteRead more
Himba Queen
Watercolour base and pastels on Mi Tientes Tex ($POA)
54 cm W x 73 cm H
Another wonderful trip overseas saw us in Namibia, Africa where we met and spent time with the Himba tribe. Himba people, especially women, are famous for covering themselves with otjize paste, a cosmetic mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment. Otjize cleanses the skin over long periods due to water scarcity and protects from the hot and dry climate of the Kaokoland, as well as from insect bites. It gives Himba people’s skin and hair plaits a distinctive texture, style, and orange or red tinge, and is often perfumed with the aromatic resin of the omuzumba shrub. Otjize is considered foremost a highly desirable aesthetic beauty cosmetic, symbolizing earth’s rich red color and blood, the essence of life, and is consistent with the OvaHimba ideal of beauty. Women who have been married for about a year or have had a child wear an ornate headpiece called the Erembe, sculptured from sheepskin, with many streams of braided hair coloured and put in shape with otjize pasteQuick View
