The end of the long dry winter season in the lowveld brings drifts of russet leaves between dark stark trunks…
detail from my larger painting, Mopani Winter Woodland
I know this is the season to watch out for deep red eyes between the tree trunks,
the eyes have it…
Huge dinner plate ears turned inquiringly my way……
my, what big ears you have…
amidst drifts of gold and red fallen mopani leaves…
Leaves which are just the colour of my Wild dog’s eyes…
Wild Dog, acrylic on strteched canvas, 28 x 20 cm by Lin Barrie
As I drive looking for wild dog dens, deep red mopani leaves nestle in fossilized elephant footprints at pans long dried…
Sunrise and sunset bring glowing colour through the mysterious dark trunks of mopani forest…
My painting is called Mopani Winter Woodland, acrylic on loose canvas, 80 x 180 cm, …
An ideal play ground for Painted wolves, aka African wild dogs to leap and wrestle before heading out to hunt with their family, as in my paintings below…
Pep Rally I, acrylic on loose canvas, 90 x 88 cmPep Rally II, acrylic on loose canvas, 90 x 88 cm
I can’t get enough of this winter season, the shapes of the leaves reminding g me of butterflies fallen to earth…
my photographic and painted art tries in some small way to capture the essence of “butterfly”…
Butterfly on a mopani log…..
the feeling of a swarm of fluttering butterflies, bringing to mind the migrations of Monarch butterflies that drift across whole continents ….
Mopani Leaf Butterflies, by Lin Barrie -diptych, acrylic on stretched canvas….each panel is 61x 91 cmdetail from my paintings…
Russet mopani leaves are an integral part of our lowveld skies,
gracing South East Zimbabwe with their glowing silhouettes against winter blue skies, enhancing game drives from Chilo Gorge safari Lodge into the magnificent Gonarezhou National Park and traversing the Save Valley Conservancy….
and all the while enhancing the seasonal winter promise of coming across the tell tale eyes of an African wild dog, peering through the camouflaging leaves…
Lin Barrie
The Save Valley Conservancy stretches along the upper reaches of the great Save River in the south east of Zimbabwe. The Gonarezhou National Park laps against the southern banks of the Save River and between these two nestles the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. These three celebrated wildlife areas form part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, (GLTFCA)- a unique wilderness jewel which is home to the “Big Five” (endangered Black and White rhinos, elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the ”Little Six” (Klipspringer, Suni, Duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe's Grysbok and Oribi). Endangered African wild dogs, Cheetah, Brown hyena, Bat-eared foxes and a host of special birds and plants contribute to the immense variety of this ecosystem. Communities around the GLTFCA contribute to innovative partnerships with National Parks and the private sector, forming a sound base on which to manage social, economic and environmental issues.
This is home to artist and writer Lin Barrie and her life partner, conservationist Clive Stockil.
Expressing her hopes, fears and love for this special ecosystem with oil paints on canvas, Lin Barrie believes that the essence of a landscape, person or animal, can only truly be captured by direct observation.
Lin Barrie states: “Through my art, and my writing, I feel an intimate connection with the natural world, and from my extensive field sketches of wild animals, people and landscapes, I create larger works on canvas.
Lin's work is in various public and private collections in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. She is represented by galleries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Kenya and Florida, USA.
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