The Trek Painting

This is the first piece of work I painted using my new found love of black and white, using palette knife as well as brush work. I found an article in a magazine once that spoke about this tribe in Africa somewhere, whereby the children (and the women) were responsible for collecting water each and every day, from before the sun rises and returning in the dark. What really inspired me to paint this was that regardless of the full day of walking and carrying of water they still found the time to smile and laugh and play. I tried to capture this in my work. The black and white of the intense labour they carried out each day, the routine, darkness and light...but the children are full of life and colour and they are walking into a future that is promising and into a new day of play and laughter. Apart from the subject matter I love texture and layers. Working on hardboard allowed me to do this..as well as using acrylic which is fast drying to allow ,e to apply layer upon layer. I hope the you as the viewers get a feel for African life! and get inspired as much as I did from this. Africa is my home and right now within the Western cape we are suffering through an intense drought. Water is so precious and we are all so lucky to have taps in our homes. Thinking of walking miles each day for water seems crazy, but its the way of life for alot of people in this country. This painting is a reminder of how privileged we all are across the globe.