Kenya Trip – The First 10 Days

I have been happily ensconced at Moon’s camp, in the Lolldaiga conservancy, Kenya, for a just over a week now. It feels like longer, I feel very at home, but also aware it is flying by and wanted to record the experience as I go…

The trip takes shape

The opportunity to travel out to Kenya to work came about after a seed was planted having visited beautiful Laikipia at the beginning of last year as a family. I’ve been doing the odd drawing and painting inspired by that trip and couldn’t get it out of my mind. Having heard of the artists residency programme they have set up here at Safari Series Lolldaiga through friends, I made contact and feel very lucky they had a month space available between artists who generally stay 3 months. I would never have got that past the family!

After a few panicky moments travelling out here that my carefully packed bag of materials hadn’t left Heathrow with me, the feeling of arriving in Nairobi, wheeling both my bags out into the early sun (thanks Kenya airways for the 46kg allowance!) on this solo adventure was undiluted excitement.

The camp is nestled on the edge of the 50,000 acre wildlife conservancy, 25/45 minutes from Nanyuki (it depends on your mode of transport and whether it has rained!). For the guests that stay here on holiday, there is a collection of stylish tents, my home is a building made of cob, a mix of the reddish mud and straw, an interior that designers would strive to achieve as a warm, earthy finish. Complete with outside shower, corralled in a local stone wall, the space is basic but a completely perfect studio bedsit. Two tables for all the kit, an easel and as yet I haven’t had time to make a mess, so it feels exciting like opening a new sketchbook or pack of fresh charcoal.

The wildlife

It has been an assault on the senses from the word go, the game drives offering a cast of unimaginably beautiful animals in their natural state, from the chorus line of impala and zebra to the main players, lion, cheetah, elephant. It’s hard to put into words the feeling of being in the presence, sometimes nonchalant, others more nervous and fleeting, of these creatures. I spent the first few days urgently drawing, capturing videos and photos as if I would never have the chance again, but having been here a week, I have calmed down a little and can enjoy sitting and observing the variety of wildlife this rich landscape has to offer, sketching and storing up ideas for new work.

Highlight of the wildlife sightings was this female cheetah and her two cubs, posing like models in front of Mount Kenya!

The place and people

There is an extraordinary mix of vibrant busy community and peaceful, purposeful wilderness I am discovering. Part of my motivation is to understand, and then hopefully touch on in the art I make, the balance between people and place, wildlife and the varied community that support or are in conflict with it. I can’t pretend to have more than a slim sense of this, beginning with a respect for the people that make areas like this and others in Laikipia and beyond work, but it’s an aspect of the trip I’m enjoying to get to know more about. Coming across a grave of George Hammond Goldfinch, a British settler, killed 100 years ago hunting lion on horseback, is a reminder of the eventful history this land has witnessed.

I have felt welcomed from the moment I arrived, part of the team; I’ve even been to a Kenyan wedding party! Ed and Moon’s focus, on the real safari experience, luxury, but in touch with the most important feature, being immersed in proper bush life and conserving its contents, attracts a great bunch of guests, who have been a joy to get to know and be around. I’ve joined them for game drives, shown them into the Artists House, and even sat round the mess tent drawing with their children.

The art

I made a promise to myself to keep my expectations muted and just respond to the experience; three weeks is not a long time to create new work, especially in a strange environment. It was important however to have a clear objective at least in terms of sketching and collecting material to work on back in the studio, having lugged most of my kit out here, I really want to get stuck in and use it all!

There’s a good rhythm to the day, with early starts to head out in the open landrovers armed with sketch books, binoculars and camera. I draw from life in charcoal, pen or pencil as much as time allows on these excursions, then after breakfast get straight into the studio to resolve them a little further using video or camera footage with a fresh memory. The aim is to explore the form and movement of as many animals as I can to allow me to paint or upscale drawings with increased sense of their nature and interaction with each other.

The afternoons work to begin with has been about preparation of paper, canvas and boards with a view to painting more in the second week; it’s been valuable in terms of exploring how best to capture this experience. I can’t lie that I haven’t felt under pressure (from myself) to try and refine my response to the inundation of subject matter into a plan of sorts. Blank canvases leaning against the walls all inviting ideas…