Living with Cattle and Wildlife; Ecological Dancing…

The meetings of two worlds, Mahenye Community and the Gonarezhou National Park.

Cattle skin and kudu horn, products of domesticity and wilderness respectively, unit to create the tools of culture and dance on the sands of the Save River…..an ‘ecological’ dance?!

Lin Barrie, “Dancers”, acrylic and beads on canvas, 3 x 4 feet, with skin drums and kudu horn

Nguni cattle herded at dusk by children from Chief Mahenye’s Village, on the banks of the Save River…

Children from Chief Mahenye’s Village herding cattle on the edge of wilderness…

……overlooking the wilderness of Gonarezhou on the far bank… there be elephants!

Cattle herded at Dusk on the banks of the Save River…

Sunset, the nightfall of Africa, brings more contact between humans, cattle and wildlife……..

Lin Barrie, “Sunset Impressions” acrylic on canvas, 102 x 78 cm

At dusk, as onlookers, we have the luxury of a fire and a wilderness view

Cattle prints and human footprints in the sand by day….

Cattle prints

But these same children who herd cattle and dance on the sand by day………

child dancers

have to live with the thought that night might bring elephants to their parents fields, their food crops…

Lin Barrie, “Dancing with my Shadow”, acrylic on canvas, 4 x 3 feet

have to live with the thought that night might bring lions to their cattle……

The wonderful splotches and blotches of Nguni cattle entrance me, here is detail from my larger painting, “Nguni Sunset”….

and Wow…these colours from Dulux echo the feeling of Earth and Sunsets, Sand and Sunrises…

echo this ‘Brave Ground’ on the great Save River in Zimbabwe, this contact zone, between wilderness and domestic life…

Where elephant footprints mingle with man, wild dog with cattle…

sunset on the Save River looking into Gonarezhou…

and the clouded sunsets inspire my canvas!

Lin Barrie, “Pink Sky”, acrylic on canvas, 2 x 2 feet

an ecological dance…of man

an ecological dance of beast…

Lin Barrie, ‘Painted Wolf Sunset’, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 90 cm

Brave ground for all…how to co-exist ..?

sunrise on the Save from Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge deck
Adornment….

an ecological dance indeed………..

About wineandwilddogs

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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1 Response to Living with Cattle and Wildlife; Ecological Dancing…

  1. Greg Shaw says:

    Thanks for sending this Lin – wonderful! The cattle heads are such a powerful image, as are the hoof prints – we have similar threads in our ideas currently. Gonarezhou is one of the finest places on the whole of the planet!

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