Zambia, a short illustrated book about our visit to a small village

Travis' Hut in Zambia (sold)

We flew with friends to Dar Es Salaam, the capitol of Tanzania, to go by train to Zambia.  The train trip was an adventure of its own.   Our destination was a tiny village where our nephew Travis worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, helping the locals build a damn for their fish farm.  

https://issuu.com/garyartista/docs/zambia_book_edited

Zambia: Watercolors from the bush

Zambian Women -6- Around-Fire

We visited the village where our nephew Travis worked as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was a fabulous visit despite the primitive conditions- the people were just so loving and friendly. These are the only ones I still have and I am offering them for the next week at special prices.   See blog on Zambia for further accounts of this special journey.

 

Zambian Women -6- Around-Fire
Zambian Women -6- Around-Fire, A3, 11.5 x 16.5″ watercolor on fine art paper $450

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women Dance in Zambian Village, our Peace Corps visit, A3, 11.5 x 16.5"
Women Dance in Zambian Village, our Peace Corps visit, A3, 11.5 x 16.5″ $450

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzanian Plains, watercolor, A3, 11.5 x 16.5", acrylics on paper
Tanzanian Plains, watercolor, A3, 11.5 x 16.5″, acrylics on paper (sold)

 

Young Women Carry Cassaba, watercolor, 11.5 x 16.5"
Young Women Carry Cassava, watercolor, 11.5 x 16.5″ $350

Young Zambian Woman
Young Zambian Woman $350

Woman Carries Chickens $350

Woman Carries 5 gallons of water
Woman Carries 5 gallons of water $350

Heart of Lightness- we arrive at Trav’s village to an amazing, loving reception complete with chorus! $350

Heart of Lightness- we arrive at Trav’s village to an amazing, loving reception complete with chorus! $350

Heart of Lightness- we arrive at Trav’s village to an amazing, loving reception complete with chorus! $350

Woman Collect Sand $250

Travis' Hut in Zambia (sold)
Travis’ Hut in Zambia (sold)

The Zambia Series

A few of these are still available.  Please contact me for information.

 

 

Ian Carrying Luggage

From our safari to Zambia, June 2014.

These paintings are mostly from my journal, which I did while we were there. Some of the very small ones I later did on larger paper, also in water color.

We traveled by train for 1500 kilometers from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania to Zambia, and spent several days in a small village where our nephew works as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was an uplifting experience.

It started with an hour long walk in the dark (see the painting “Heart of Lightness”). As we approached the village we heard shouts of joy, hugs and kisses soon following. Then they sang for an hour, choral harmony in which the whole  village joined.  We were perfect strangers yet they welcomed us as if we were long lost relatives.  We lived in a small hut and watched the people work on the dam, harvest cassava and do other chores. What loads the women can carry on their heads! We ate with them, partied with them. They are sweet and innocent, these people of Lunda land.

I hope you will enjoy my portrayal of the experience, the colors, the scenes, the sense of innocence.

Heart of Lightness We walked on the path towards the village under the glow of the yellow moon. After almost an hour we saw the glow of campfires on the hill. Soon we were welcomed with shrieks and smothered with hugs and kisses on the cheeks.

Heart of Lightness 2- we arrive to an amazing, loving reception complete with chorus! $250

The Chorus  After we arrived they sang in harmony for an hour.  Children in the front row would sometimes bang the rhythm on the ground. The second row was for the teens, and the adults were in the last.

The Chorus, Zambia SOLD

They sang beautifully.

Women Dance  At night the young women danced around a campfire, for which they used a brazier. The wood fire cast an orange glow. My original was just 2″x 4″. The rhythms were mesmerizing. Even some of the older women (by older I mean over 25, as the life span here is just 45) joined in. I wanted to also.

Women Dance in Zambian Village, our Peace Corps visit, A3, 11.5 x 16.5"
Women Dance in Zambian Village, our Peace Corps visit, A3, 11.5 x 16.5″ (sold)

Women Collect Sand  The Peace Corps project is a small dam for filling fish ponds.  They need the protein and the income.  They do not have much of either.  They have goats but they do not eat them, they are for dowries, and they are lactose intolerant so nary a piece of cheese in the country.   In this painting they collect sand for the dam.

Woman Collect Sand A4 sold

Walking the Bush  We explored the area around the village.  Here are friends walk through the bush.

What I experienced gave me a new perspective, different colors, the elongated limbs, the redness of the soil.

Walk the Bush (Sold)

Videoslideshow- Chobe River and Park, Botswana, Our Safari

This is a slide show from our safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana, not far from Livingstone, Zambia.  Half of the time is on the river and the rest on land.  Some close ups of quite a few critters.    .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z85NCjOCA4U&list=UUl7YKIwsWVvA_jQrQVcxYRg

Some watercolors from Zambia

Here are some of the drawings I have done here in Tanzania and Zambia.  We started in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania.

Tazara Train
Tazara Train (from the journal I kept)

 

The countryside in Tanzania:

Huts in Tanzania (from the journal I kept)
Huts in Tanzania (from the journal I kept)

 

The plains of Tanzania  (from the journal I kept)
The plains of Tanzania 
(from the journal I kept)  Sold