World Inspired Landscapes: Lesotho

 

Lesotho is one of the smallest Countries in Africa, despite being a sovereign country, it is located within the borders of South Africa. In history, Lesotho was the place where local indigenous tribes fled from Colonial rule because the landscape was mountainous and difficult to attack into. Over time it gelled into a political entity and became sovereign in the mid 20th century. Among its rich food and culture, Lesotho is known for its abundant water supplies, which it sells to South Africa. Water in the south part of Africa is incredibly scarce, a problem made worse by climate change, and inequity between rich and poor people. Having painted a lot African countries I came to understand the geological features. The land is mostly flat, with occasional low hills and mountains. The mountains tend to have jagged peaks and are surrounded by mounds of erosion covered in vegetation. In the painting, the middle ground shows wavy hills covered in greenery, fronted by eroded rock pillars. Rock pillars form when a chunk of insoluble rock protects the soft earth below it from erosion, as the land around it disappears, the pillar forms. I did a similar painting of Djibouti, albeit in much different lighting conditions.

World Inspired Landscapes: Lesotho, watercolour 6 x 9" watercolour paper, January 2024