Painting Africa's wonders

Speaker: Mary-Anne Bartlett

Company: Art Safari

Travel is inspiring. The life, colours and contours of Africa lend themselves to taking out a sketchbook to sit calmly painting. Sometimes everywhere you look there is another picture.

Travel artist and director of Art Safari, Mary-Anne Bartlett, talks about painting wildlife in national parks in Africa. Mary-Anne is also the co-author of the Bradt Travel Guide to Malawi. "The most rewarding times I have had in Africa have been when sketching – it causes an interaction that is seldom found between tourists and local people. It’s also thoroughly absorbing and addictive. Trying to record a sunset or a market scene in colour, or a moving elephant in line, can be the most intense experience. You have to observe carefully and allow the feeling of the environment into your image. Above all there’s nothing more satisfying than drawing with the full adrenaline of being near animals, or with the sense of calm when they are peacefully distant in their landscape."

Her own artistic career was shaped by an expedition to Malawi, following the footsteps of Sir John Kirk (her great-great-grandfather) and Dr David Livingstone. Both explorers always travelled with a paintbox.

Art Safari has developed over the last 6 years as a special interest holiday, leading creative journeys through stunning areas of Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Namibia with safari guiding and art tuition. New ‘out of Africa’ destinations include Antarctica and India. Guests are invited to join as experienced artists or as beginners, using observation as a way of learning about the land, people and wildlife.