Stranded

A white painted deck was beached at Nahoon after the heavy rains in July.
One of many.

All shattered and ship-wrecked, beautiful in its ravaged appearance.

I immediately saw that this would make a perfect setting for a fashion photo shoot. It does not come better.

But guess what?  

South Africa being a country where nothing is left unused and everything is recycled the one way or another, the next day when I came back with a model it was basically stripped down and only some planks and the tires were left.

Pity ! My loss !
But somebody's gain.
May be, these planks help now keeping a ceiling up.

The Transition Of A Crab Or The Effects Of Climate Change

In July 2011 severe rain fell on East London and on the Eastern Cape. Many villages and cities were flooded. Whole ground levels of shopping centers like Vincent Park and Hemingways and other shops experienced excessive water damage amounting to hundreds thousands of  Rands.

The beach was swamped with Bamboo, driftwood, tree trunks, broken boats, parts of decks and many other things that the sea had brought to shore. There was so much wood and debris that beach walkers had to make their way around piles of objects.

Sea creatures and other forms of sea life that I had not consciously perceived before found themselves stranded amongst the bamboo and driftwood. Big squid of a size that I had seen so far only exhibited as calamari steak in the fish shops were lying dead and entangled in seaweed.

This purple black crab sat, his fire red arms outstretched, on the beach.

I was still busy taking pictures from every angle when foam came out of it's mouth and it died.

When I walked on I found many more of them already dead.

But he thing is that this type of rainfall has been repeating itself during the last months.

South Africa is hosting Cop 17 in Durban, an international conference on climate change and global warming at this moment. The protocol of Kyoto is still a hectic discussion topic. But judging very subjectively from what I see happens around me in my life climate change is here to stay with us. 

A Slight Breeze

A slight breeze from south - south/west was blowing

The Ann Bryant Gallery

The Ann Bryant Art Gallery in Southernwood is a place well worth visiting when you are in East London.

Not only is it a love nest for two pictoresque doves having found their spot under the roof but the building's architectural structure takes the visitor back into a colonial past when space was not considered to be a luxury. 

The house, called originally The Gables, was built by the Savage family. Mr Savage had an export import business in East London and he built the stately house for his family but it must have cost him more than he could afford because shortly after the house was completed, he was declared bacnkrupt.

In 1907 the house was bought by Mr. Bryant to house his wife's art collection.

 

It is a host to a variety of art pieces of different styles and epoches.

They are tastefully exhibted in old colonial rooms with high pressed ceilings and large windows, having the right light and the right size for an art gallery 

It is a house that creates a desire to inhabit it. To make it your own.
Usurp it.

By the way, I find it an absolutely breath taking idea that there could be a husband somewhere out there who would buy a house to host my art collection. I must be definitely living in the wrong decade or centruy even. I love, love, love that thought. That is the husband I need. Well, Mrs Bryant had one like this.!

The building itself is a piece of art.

with wooden mahagony staircases, long drapes

colored glass windows

 the flair of the last century

and an absolutely majestic door

Local East London artist, Terry Flynn, famous for his Nahoon Beach landscapes oil paintings is also the assistant curator of the Ann Bryant Art Gallery. His work gives him still enough time to paint in the afternoon and it is easy to understand why he calls himeslf very lucky.

While he explains to me the structure and the composition of the painting he is presently working on I look around.

Terry's painter palette........

 

A table for playing cards

Hard to not envy him for his working place.

But since envy is a truly bad thing
let's rather enjoy the magic of this slightly wild garden outside

and the paintings and the aura
inside this beautiful house with it's Art Deco atmosphere

and lovingly arranged art pieces

always captivating my eyes is the one that does not want to stay in place and hangs skew

which you can find in any gallery

and then have a coffee and Lemon meringue at the Coach house.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

Cycling along the shore of Nahoon Beach

on a windstill afternoon

is something I am gonna try very soon.

Turn Left

Let's hope the inside is more comfy.
The beach is real nice.

Quantum Light

With the right light and at low tide the rock pools on the East London coast line look like this.

Looking at this world so beautiful and different

just creates one desire in me

to go deeper.

SHE GOT ANGRY

When she gets angry there is really nothing you can do

the sea can be very scornful

When I went for a walk I found my beach was gone

Where there was once sand there was none

But plenty of foam

and the colors spoke of danger

He had no idea where he was running to - understandably being still a youngster

and needing to run

completely unaware of the danger of the tides and currents still ravaging the beach

until he found out about it

running back to the voice with all his might he had not listened to a while before

huge driftwood logs stranded

and holiday makers wondering where the promised beach was