This small village is thick with canals, 180 foot bridges and brick houses with thatched roofs, making for picturesque scenes at every turn. It was founded by Franciscians circa 1200. Now 2600 people live there. We took a boat through the canals. Here are my favorite spots. All are miniatures, approximately 4″ x 6″. The watercolors are on post card stock.
Giethoorn Two Houses – watercolor on post card stock A6 approx 2″ x 4″
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Giethoorn, 3 bridges post card A6 approx 2″ x 4″
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Giethoorn, Boat Nears Bridge, watercolor A6 approx 2″ x 4″
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[Every 5 years 3-5 masted sailing ships, most of them training vessels, come to Amsterdam. We sat on the side of the North Sea Canal where I sketched. And ate pofertjes! (Small pancakes). Here are my drawings and paintings from that event.
These are pen and ink drawings together with water colors from our time in Paris. Some are from Courbevoie, famous for the impressionist paintings done on ile de la Jatte. I spent a lot of time meeting with friends at Bar de la Gare and Cafe Bert in Paris.
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″ (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.
I did three versions of this view. The first one (bottom) was a sketch from memory. I noticed the gorgeous view as we passed by on Bus 30 on the way up the hill. I did the second from a photo in pen and ink, and the third on site in watercolor. I think you will find it interesting to see the three together. From memory- I think I did it rather accurately considering I had about 30 seconds. The first two will be up on my website shortly http://garyartista.wix.com/gary-kirkpatrick-art
Street with a View On Bus Line 30, Trieste, Italy
Street with a View On Bus Line 30, Trieste, Italy pen and ink
Street with a View On Bus Line 30, Trieste, Italy- First Sketch From Memory
These photos are from our June 2014 visit to Zambia. Our nephew is serving in the Peace Corps, following his brother in el Salvador and us in Panama. The drawings in the video are from my journal, which I will publish. This was my favorite part of the journey. As spectacular as the animals were, as great as Victoria Falls was, this was more meaningful, touching me profoundly.
Here’s a people with so little in material goods who are just above subsistence and yet they expressed such joy at our arrival and for the next three days of our time there.
