Welcome to my June Newsletter!
This is a little late because I have just returned from another inspirational visit to the African People & Wildlife Fund in Tanzania!

Sketching with an audience.  photo: African People & Wildlife Fund/Deidre Leowinata

I don't know what to tell you about first! Being surrounded by moran (Maasai warriors) as I sketched at a wedding celebration. Painting walls & exhibiting my art in the Loibor Siret school. Sketching Maasai women milking cows in the boma. Teaching drawing classes & being guest of honor at a school closing ceremony where I was given my own shukas. Visiting the colorful Monday market where I sketched in a tea house, and was welcomed back by women I had met on previous visits...

Shimmer & Shukas Field Sketch              by Alison Nicholls

Lets start with this sketch. I stood in the middle of a Maasai boma, sketching these amazing women in all their finery. They were dazzling in their vibrant shukas, covered with beaded necklaces, headbands, earrings, arm & ankle bracelets. As usual, I started with a very light pencil drawing which took about 10 minutes. Then, a couple of hours later, while the ceremony continued around me, I added the watercolor.

The ceremony itself was for a group of moran (warriors), who were embarking on the long process of becoming elders. The men had just finished drinking calabashes of milk and a slight halt was called in the proceedings while the cows headed out to pasture. I had asked permission to sketch and saw this group of women nearby, so I began. Their beaded jewelry is mostly white, with areas of blue & yellow, while small metal disks on thin chains hang from almost every piece - hence the "shimmer" in the title of the sketch. Painting white beads and shiny metal disks on white paper can be a challenge, so I didn't paint them, instead I painted around them, using the colors of the women's dark skin and bright shukas to define the jewelry.

Maasai Woman     photo by ANicholls

As you can see from this photo, it would be very easy to get caught up in the minute detail of the jewelry, but my aim is not to paint a detailed portrait, it is to catch a fleeting moment. For me, my sketch does just that, reminding me of the sights that I was fortunate to witness that day.

The work of the African People & Wildlife Fund has created numerous positive benefits for the local community. Local children have the opportunity to attend an environmental summercamp and receive a scholarship for high school education. Human-wildlife conflict has been reduced by the innovative Living Walls program. Women's groups can apply for grants to start a small environmentally-sustainable business. The community has asked APW for, and received, data and environmental education, allowing them to make good long-term decisions about their land and water use. APW's impact has been possible due to the creation of a permanent base in the area and their close links with local communities, who provide the vast majority of their staff.

Perhaps the most wonderful aspect for me, was to be remembered by some of these friendly and welcoming people from my previous visits. They encouraged me to sketch and were always interested in seeing my work. I will be sending copies of my sketches back to APW so they can be given to all the people who were in them. Next time I'll show you video of my work at the Loibor Siret school. But in the meantime I'd like to thank Dr Lichtenfeld and Charles Trout for inviting me to return to Noloholo, and all the APW staff, particularly Joyce Ndakaru, for their help and support.
Asanteni sana!

Learn more about the valuable work of APW on the Maasai Steppe.

See more of my African Field Sketches.

Brothers was a commissioned painting, showing three male cheetahs patrolling their territory. I thoroughly enjoyed painting this piece, with its strong yellows, oranges and browns. Creating the composition was key, as each cat had to be interesting in its own right without detracting from the overall cohesion of the group. These cats may be walking through the grasslands of Botswana, but the painting can now be found in its new home in India!

Here are some more new limited edition giclées (Sun Spots, The Herd and Lion). See the full images and pricing details here.

To learn more about giclées and limited editions, read my blog post:  Prints, Reproductions, Giclées - A Confusion Of Options.