Painting in South Africa ~

At this time of year it is high summer in South Africa.

When I lived in the Waterberg I went riding every morning before breakfast,

returning for mealie pap and bananas fried with crispy bacon

before settling down to paint in a room looking out over this lovely garden.

You too can stay with my friends on Triple 'B' Ranch 

~ home to Waterberg Cottages as well as Horizon Horseback Adventures 

with Ant's Nest and Ant's Hill  near by ~

Sketching in the Okavango Delta ~

Macateer, that camp where I spent time sketching in the western delta ~

jotting down impressions,

trying to paint the bush as darkness fell,

...sketching vignettes of

horses and wildlife

to add to maps I drew of the area

I had the chance to talk about 'Ride the Wings of Morning' 

on Premier Radio in London this week.

Maria Toth kindly invited me on 'Woman to Woman', 

her chat show that runs from about 10.50am to 11.50am. It was good fun.

To listen to the show please click here:
(You will need to use the latest Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer Browser)

I was able to offer listeners a free Kindle copy of 'Funnily Enough', the prequel to 'Ride the Wings of Morning'. Do help yourselves and tell your friends about the offer, which is on until midnight on 28th Jan (PMT)

For anyone in the UK - click here

For the US, India, Australia or New Zealand - click here

You can also find it on Kindle for Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada and Brazil

Sketches from the Okavango Delta ~

I first went to the Okavango to ride horses with PJ and Barney Bestelink.

It is wonderful being on a horse as you can cross both the water-meadows and dry islands.

I then took friends on to stay at Tchau, a camp on the Borro River run by Jez Lye.

The camp looked out over the flood plain.

We slept in large tents on an island, standing in the shade of Jackalberry trees.

The location of the Okavnago Delta in Botswana

Please let Sophie Neville know if you would like to use any of her artwork.
sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Have you thought of going to Malawi?

You can see Lake Malawi from the heights of the Nyika Plateau.

I spent time at Monkey Bay

where it was possible to camp on the beach

or explore islands

I appreciated the food at Club Makakola

and watching rock hyrax at otter point.

This map charts our journey. It was amazing.

Have you ever been to Damaraland?

I first went to Damaraland on a recce for the BBC Natural History Unit.

I wanted to return as soon as possible to spend time painting in the desert.

It's one of the last great wildernesses.

I was able to use this small reed hut as a base for ten days.

It gave me time to experiment.

Might I inspire you to travel more?

It's always hard to get away, but one thing I have resolved to do in 2013 is to travel more.

It's always good to travel with a purpose.

A sketch book and a small paintbox can enrich one's experience.

It doesn't matter how good the pictures are. This one didn't work very well but elements proved useful.

It's good to observe, to take visual notes.

I find I have poor hand-eye coordination when I am tired but improve with practice.

If nothing else, you return home with a record of your experience.

All sketches are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk