Saturday, January 23, 2010

The other side of Harties

"You... whose day this is, make it BEAUTIFUL.

Get out your rainbow colours, that it may be beautiful."

- Nekoosa Indian Poem




We often take a drive out to Hartebeespoort Dam in the North West Province, about an hour's drive from us, for Sunday lunch. This view is from the "other side" of Hartebeespoort Dam, meaning not the usual side where we normally have lunch at the restaurant, situated on the North side of the dam. Approaching roads surround the dam totally, so there are lots of vantage points from which to sketch. This time I had my full paint set with me and did this one without any preliminary sketching in my Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book.

Go to Hedgie's Nature Journal to read more about the dam and see pics of the dam wall.

5 comments:

  1. ...just beautiful, Maree! I love the freedom of the scene and the watercolor.

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  2. This drawing shows a landscape that looks so open and full of fresh air. The name of the place sounds really unusual - what does it come from?

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  3. Hi Alissa, a "Hartebees" is a type of buck or a gnu, and "poort" means a natural cutting through the mountain, so it probably means that originally there were a lot of wild buck in the area in earlier days near the cutting that goes through the mountain and where the dam is now, which was built in the 1920's - go to Hedgie's Nature Journal to see pics of the dam wall - http://hedgiesjoy.blogspot.com/2009/11/harties.html

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  4. Ooooo, Marie! Your colors are soooo fresh! Wonderful!

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  5. Thank you Pam! It's a special comment coming from you.

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