The simplicity of Nature

“Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.” 

― Isaac Newton 

The Magalies River. Pic taken at Magaliespark, North-West Province, South Africa.

Nature has a great simplicity and, therefore, a great beauty. 

Many people find their greatest peace and serenity in nature. The natural world is exactly what it needs to be, no more and no less. There is no excess or clutter or a lack of organization in nature. Every rock, tree, drop of water, leaf, piece of sand and animal plays its part in nature with no thought as to whether they will match the local terrain or whether they will need extra storage to have all the things they want to have. 

A walk in the woods in the fall, or in the mountains by a bubbling stream, or by the roaring ocean can bring a new perspective into your own life and how it is affected by its surroundings. Our own living spaces should give us the same feeling that we get from being in the outdoors. Peace, quiet, and the time to reflect on our place in this world.

The benefits of nature is to experience the magnificent expressions of nature, who is our greatest teacher. She teaches us to experience and embrace the present moment, expand our deep appreciation and gratitude for all of life and deepen our love for self and other. Nature provides a feeling of full connectedness and aliveness with all, for all and stillness and a peaceful state of being. 

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Sometimes, do nothing

A simple life has a different meaning and a different value for every person. For me, it means eliminating all but the essential, eschewing chaos for peace, and spending my time doing what’s important to me.

It means getting rid of many of the things you do so you can spend time with people you love and do the things you love. It means getting rid of the clutter so you are left with only that which gives you value.

Albert Einstein said, "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Nature does no more or no less than what is necessary. Minimalist living helps create a simple, inspired and uncomplicated life.

In our daily lives, we often rush through tasks, trying to get them done, trying to finish as much as we can each day. We surround ourselves with more and more stuff and our lives become way too full.

It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s possible to live a simpler life by just sitting back and deciding what is important to you and concentrate solely on that. Sometimes, do nothing.

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Nature's most wonderful treasures

The sea and coast holds a great fascination for most of us, and walking the beach can unearth the most wonderful treasures, from smooth glass to round pebbles, pieces of driftwood and, of course, the most collectible, shells. Unfortunately for these wondrous living creatures, this spells doom, as people will go to great lengths and pay hefty prices for these little creatures, which results in the harvesting of a living infrastructure which will not last forever.

 And living proof of this is the fact that, walking the beach does not often turn up many shells, and in some areas, none at all. I have sketched some of my beach finds, but nothing can portray the beauty of some of these as well as the living specimen.

I personally never buy shells from any shops and only collect what I can find on the beach and my collection dates from many years ago of collecting on the beaches of our North Coast (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa).

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195
Pencil and ink sketches with colourwash

Today, many of our shell species are endangered, including the beautiful Cowrie shell. Unfortunately, people’s love of the cowrie shell has pushed some species toward extinction. Instead of collecting them, it would be far better to admire them where they are or look at pictures of cowrie shells. 

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A bit of Marketing

As some of you might (or might not!) know, I am an artist by profession and, being absolutely enthralled by Nature, it is natural for me to sketch and paint the beauty I find in our natural world. Who can fail to marvel at the shape of a leaf, the sleek power of a cheetah, the dance of the wind over a grassland? I thank the Universe for this most amazing inspiration, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

Albert Einstein said, “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” I SO agree with him!

I display and have my artwork for sale on various websites. At RedBubble you have a choice of Greeting cards, Photographic prints, Matted prints, Framed prints, Posters, T-shirts and iPhone covers. If you're interested in buying some of my original artworks, feel free to look around in my Sales Blog. This is not a hard-sell site! Please feel free to browse and leave your comments - I'd love to hear from you! Or perhaps you just like browsing art, in which case you can visit me at Art & Creativity - My Sketchbook, where I post a wide selection of art on a regular basis.

 

Thank you for stopping by and, as always, I really enjoy your comments!

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June inspiration - Nature's beauty

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. 

- Marie Curie 

Nature's beauty can be easily missed - Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books. John Muir said, "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

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How I do love the earth!

How I do love the earth! I feel her thrill under my feet. I feel somehow as if she were conscious of my love, as if something passed into my dancing blood from her.
- James Russell Lowell

Summer is at an end and we're enjoying Autumn with her balmy days and odd showers.

In South Africa, Autumn starts on the 20th of March and ends on the 1st of June, when Winter starts. It's almost 3 months of the most gorgeous weather, with cooler temperatures perfect for gardening and other outdoor activities. Winter is usually short-lived, June and July, with August bringing the winds that clear the landscape of all debris, ensuring a clean slate for Spring which officially starts on the 1st September.

Let us rejoice in Earth's unending beauty. Let us protect her from harm. Let us remember her strength. Let us remember her fragility. Let us act in ways to respect and love her.

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Advice from a River

Go with the flow

Immerse yourself in nature

Slow down and meander

Go around the obstacles

Be thoughtful of those downstream

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The Pororoca

"It's the tail end of the dry season on the Araguari River in the Brazilian Amazon Basin, and the water level is low. The moon is full. Suddenly an ominous roar rolls through the jungle, like the rumble of an oncoming train. A vast wall of water comes hurtling straight up the river. The native Tupi Indians call it poroc-poroc—big roar."

- National Geographic

 Pic credit - Investec.

I was utterly awed and amazed when I saw a programme on TV regarding the Pororoca, which is a tidal bore, with waves up to 4 metres high, that travel as much as 13km inland upstream on the Amazon River and adjacent rivers. 

When the moon is full and the dry season is coming to an end along the banks of the Araguari River, the stillness of the Amazon is shattered by a loud, thunderous roar. The suddenly rising waters of the river rush out towards the Atlantic, forcing the tide to surge hundreds of kilometres up the Amazon River – it’s not just a tidal bore, it’s an opportunity waiting to be seized… 

 Pic credit - Investec.

Feared and revered by the native Tupi, who call this tidal bore Pororoca, meaning "great destructive noise", the tremendous wave can be powerful enough to tear entire trees from the river bank...and captivating enough to tempt surfers from all over the world, to ride its untamed wall. Occurring between February and March only, it's the longest wave on earth. 

The wave has become popular with surfers. Since 1999, an annual championship has been held in São Domingos do Capim (on the adjacent Guamá River). However, surfing the Pororoca is especially dangerous, as the water contains a significant amount of debris from the shores of the river (often entire trees), in addition to dangerous fauna. In 2003 the Brazilian Picuruta Salazar won the event with a record ride of 12.5 km lasting 37 minutes. The longest time captured on tape riding the wave is also by Picuruta, lasting 43 minutes. 

You can see the pororoca in action HERE.

Do youself a favour and click, it's something not to be missed!

 Pic credit - Investec.

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Nature is telling us...

With the grass turning yellow and a nip in the morning air, it's plain that we're heading for Autumn already. One of our March/April jobs on the smallholding is to cut the grass and make fire-breaks. We started early this year as Nature is clearly indicating she has plans for an early Winter!

Tappeltjie cleaning under the fences with a panga.

After the contractor has finished the basic job of cutting all the fields, it's time for us to trim under the fences and get closer to walls and other structures. Where the tractor cannot be used it is done by hand with a panga.

I just love watching them work and the smell of the freshly-cut grass is like no other in this world!

Following the tractor around, I also get a chance to 'rescue' small wildlife and flowers, giving the driver strict instructions to 'go around' it. This wildflower was blowing around briskly in the breeze and I had to hold it still to get a shot.

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Besides clearing up a possible fire hazard, I'm thrilled by the annual cut as I get to replenish my stock of baled grass for the chicken coop. I really don't use that much so twenty bales lasts me the whole year. The contractor takes the rest of the harvest, which is about 200 bales in total.

By this time of the year, the Fan-tiled Cisticolas (Cisticola juncidis - Landeryklopkloppie in Afrikaans) have finished breeding. They hang their tiny nests in the tall grass by bunching clumps together and building their little cups half-way up the stems. Quite a job to find them in the tall grass and I never actually look for the nests as the Cisticolas are very shy and easily abandon a disturbed nest. I'll miss their constant twittering as they do their dipping flight above the tall grass.

(Pic from Photo.net)

But the shorter grass makes way for other wildlife - the Guinea fowl pass through more often and the Crowned Plovers move in and start choosing nesting sites. It's one of my great joys watching their tiny, long-legged little offspring following the parents around in Winter, taking tit-bits pointed out to them.

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Isn't it amazing?

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always pick up the feather lying in your path

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Well, I've had a slight internet break, touched the stars and watched Spring as she fleetingly moved through my garden - her footprints were soft and quiet as Summer was impatiently pushing her from behind, cutting short her visit with hot temperatures early in the season, not allowing Spring's gentler days to last very long. 

During my small break, I connected with nature again and thought, "Isn't it wonderful what nature supplies us to play with?" Pebbles, leaves, bark, twigs, feathers, crystals, gold, silver, rubies, seeds and a plethora of beautiful objects for us to do what we want with! 

A collection of seed pods and found items from nature. I use many of these objects in the jewellery I make, preferring the earthy tones to the normal 'bling'. Nature is my inspiration for these creations and I take my cue from what naturally occurs all around me - a leaf gently swaying in the breeze or a feather floating lazily past, some beautifully textured bark on a tree, a stone perfectly smoothed by the rythm of water. 

A collection of some of the pebbles I like to use in my creations. 

Pendant - A river stone encased in silver wire and hanging from leather thonging. 

A brooch hand-crafted from Black Stained Glass encased in silver solder and sporting a Bantam Rooster feather 

A pendant made with a Porcupine Quill (found in the veld) encased with silver wire, a dangling glass bead and hanging from a silver chain. 

A Perlemoen shell (Abelone) pendant with silver solder, silver wire and glass teardrop bead hanging from a silver chain. 

A Blue Gum leaf (Eucalyptus) and seed earrings hand-crafted in copper and antiqued for a vintage look. 

A Dragonfly ornament hand-crafted with a blue glass jewel and silver wire. 

Some of my hand-crafted insects using glass, shells, silver wire and solder. 

Pendant - Quartz Crystal encased in Silver wire and hanging from a silver chain with turquoise beads and a white feather 

Citrine Crystal pendant with a silver cap and hanging from a silver chain. 

Refreshed with what nature has to offer us, never tiring of her beauty, I recall Ruess's words in his last letter to his brother on November 1934, 

"I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities." 

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Hummingbird Migration

This was sent to me by e-mail and I thought it so beautiful and decided to share it!

"Abigail Alfano of Pine, Louisiana lives in a Hummingbird fly zone. As they migrated, about 20 of them were in her garden. She took the little red dish, filled it with sugar water and this is the result.

She has been studying them daily and then one morning put the cup from the feeder (with water in it) into her hand. After they got used to her standing by the feeder they eventually came over to her hand.

She says they are as light as a feather. Abagail says if she had known her husband was taking pictures she would have put on makeup!







It NEVER fails to amaze me how trusting these little birds are!

Uninformed and Totally Irrational

My heart and soul cringe when I hear how uninformed people can behave, becoming totally irrational and losing all perspective. Following on an article written by Heather Valance in her blog Personal Thoughts, "Our irrational fear of living things", it reminded me of an article I read on the website of Scorpions of South Africa, which illustrates exactly what our environment has to contend with, despite the fact that everybody is shouting "Green!" and "Global Warming!" and thought I'd post it as enlightenment to the wonderful insect world we have been blessed with.

"Deadly Spiders" at Eagle Canyon



"I had an e-mail from concerned someone who lived at Eagle Canyon, a Golf Estate in Gauteng. After receiving a hoax e-mail regarding Violin Spiders, the Estate Manager decided that to protect all the children on the estate, all spiders should be killed on sight. I was also told that there were Violin Spiders everywhere in people’s houses. Cool! I said, please collect some and bring them along to the talk.

Feelings obviously ran deep as I received a phone call instructing me not to say any good things about spiders. As you can imagine... I was not impressed. This kind of behaviour really disturbed me so I offered to give the facts about venomous spiders and scorpions.

I gave a presentation that I give to Pretoria University for their Diploma on Tropical diseases. It’s a post doctoral course and therefore my data and presentation has to be top notch, referenced and based on medical facts. I had modified it for the target audience but it contained the same facts, spider bite pictures and reference to hoax emails.

Digital projector and laptop under my arms I entered the Club House determined to present the facts, and answer any questions that they may have. The talk was well attended but I could see that it was going to be an uphill battle. The majority of the audience were so negative and misinformed. Claims of spider bite victims slipping into comas, descriptions of massive tissue damage and even numerous unnamed medical Doctors who were grateful that I was going to warn the public of the dangers these spiders cause were kicked around with idle contempt. Initially I was told that “there are Violin Spiders everywhere inside houses”, something I serious doubt in Gauteng. Someone did bring a single dreaded Violin Spider to the presentation but it was in fact a harmless Wolf Spider. So much for Violin Spiders running around everywhere.



During the presentation I gave the facts. What was interesting was the lack of understanding and appreciation from the educated audience. Most of us want to live with Nature and even pay a premium for it. The Golf Estate was no exception. However, when nature comes too close some get upset and react in an irrational way. “Kill it” is the reaction but hang on... We as humans built out homes on their homes. We have destroyed their natural habitat and provided attractants such as lights at night, water and favourable habitats. It’s no wonder that many creatures seek refuge near human habitation.

Something that that I always find to strange is that we shop at Woolworths because their food is pesticide and additive free. We pay a premium for organic vegetables and meat because of the risks associated with preservative, colour enhancing and growth stimulating chemicals that so many foods contain today. However, we are perfectly happy to spray our homes top to bottom with insecticides in order to kill insects that we encouraged to move in, in the first place. These insecticides are safe in small doses but how many of us actually adhere to the recommendations on the back of the can? These recommendations are there to make the product safe to use. Spray more than you should do and you are exposing you and your family to harmful levels of toxic chemicals.

Another issue I want to touch on in this article is the idea of unused land is waste land. Open, unused land is not wasteland. It’s not a piece of land that should be manicured, tidied up or made visually beautiful. It’s a piece of naturally occurring land that provides much needed micro habitats to a myriad of creatures and plants. It’s not a waste of space. They are islands within the urban environment where nature can thrive and seek shelter from humanity. Don’t hack and slash the grass, remove rocks to build a rockery, introducing Large Mouth Bass to natural waterways spells death for indigenous fish and amphibian populations.

Of all the preconceived ideas that had prompted me to give the presentation, not a single one was rational and factual. As I wrapped up my presentation, I felt I had added my bit of good in the world. The facts had been presented, questions answered, hoaxes expound, opinions changed. I hoped that the little good that I had done would spread to others at the Golf Estate and even further. The spiders would not be seen as deadly creatures to be persecuted on site. A little more thought would be taken, and a little more tolerance and respect would be given to Mother Nature."