Here is painting I have been wanting to do for ages.

The Brandberg is one of my favourite places.  It is a large granite plug in Namibia, about 200kms North of Swakopmund and 100km East of the Coast at Henties Bay.  The last time I went there I took some photos which I have been wanting paint ever since.

The map referrence of the place where I took the photos is 21°15’46.29″S  14°36’57.28″E – I took this of Google Earth – you can see the stuff I am painting from 4kms up – which I find compelling.   You can see the road I was on and I am sure I will be able to find the outcrop on which I took the photos.  If you look at the massif from higher, say 1700m you can see that it is round, probably an volcanic vent for rock that has long since eroded and washed away.  The top of the mountain is split by rivers and peaks.  Although it is a desert, there is water up there.  Walking on Brandberg is about climbing up or down short river courses between flat sandy plains.  There are some wonderful caves as well, with San or Khoi rock art.

brandberg1-8N

The article in Wikipedia talks about  the Ga’aseb river valley which is here:

gaaseb

This is the route we followed the first time I climbed the mountain lead by my mate Buzzy Kloot.  We walked up slabs of Granite under the peak on the skyline.  There are little miggies (flies) that sit in your eyes when you stop to rest.  Just after the descending row of peaks there is a very important subtle pass into the heart of the massif.  If you miss it you can end up walking down the Messum River in the West, which another friend of mine did with another group on the same weekend.  He and his mates were very fit and strode, up Ga’aseb and down the Messum ravine, up again and around.  The next day they set off for Konigstein, the highest peak, and the highest point in Namibia.  Off they went, stride, stride, stride.  At the end of the day they were not sure where they were.  While they were looking at the map, one of the guys said “hey I recognise this place – that is where we slept last night…”  they had walked in a circle.  The next day we were walking down Ga’aseb.  the ravine split and I took a left fork.  As I went I heard another group moving fast (striding away) down the other side of a low hill.  By the time I got to the bottom of the mountain, they had packed and left.  heh heh – Bill and them, moving like the wind.

There is another version I am very keen to do – lets see what the week holds.    This is 1500 x 1020 mm 600gm cold pressed Arches.   When I work on this size, my whole studio has to be juggled around so I pretty much have to take it from start to finish.