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+27 82 218 1906
Pretoria South Africa
lena@lenahugo.com
Rained in and getting some work done in my room. W Rained in and getting some work done in my room. Whoever ruined my drawings, you will be glad to know that I turned the wine stains into a butterfly and the other drawing is also okay, for now. ✌️ @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @morecollection1933 @lionsandsgamereserve #drawinglandscapes #rainyday
There is something about art that secures an idea, There is something about art that secures an idea, an image, a moment in time. One can say the same about a photograph, but photographic images have become so abundant, similar and easy to delete. There is also something in the process of making an artwork which cements a period in time to memory and makes it easier to retrieve. I will always remember my first morning game drive, that I shared with two amazing British gentlemen and our morning coffee in the bird hide over looking a waterhole and the most interesting jumble of tree- dead and alive, bird’s nests, birds and what nots, everything resembling a wonky cake of incredible craftsmanship, reflecting its imperfections in the water. Equally memorable is time spent making it: the calm moments, the frustratingly noisy ones, the rain, the glaring sun, constantly saving bugs and sometimes laughing at monkeys. Rushing out of the studio to plonk into the staff pool and relieve my aching back, if just for a moment. The three days I had in solitude, granted to me in an empty guest suite to work on the deck with my back towards the river. The swallows nest there, the lizards, the baboon who flat ignored me and the majestic saddle-billed stork just as I packed up for the day and looked over my shoulder to say good night to the river and all that inhabits it. Of course this is not what the real image looked like at all. It was a clear bright day and the foreboding overcast rather reflected my mood while creating, like the wonky cake projecting to the water. Ah rest! I’m in the quiet of my room right now and I hear something that sounds like dogs barking, but much prettier and stranger, and I have no idea what animal it is. @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve @morecollection1933 #pastellandscapes #lowveld #waterhole #birdsnests #chalkpastel #artresidency #sabisands
A very cleverly constructed condo shared by two di A very cleverly constructed condo shared by two different species, with a moat around it to keep intruders at bay. Nature is forgiving but has no morality, as we think we understand the concept of morality. One (as non-human) should adapt and keep one’s wits about at all times just to survive. My new project here at @lionsandsgamereserve in progress. And the friend that shared my ‘canvas’ for a while. @lionsandsgamereserve @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @morecollection1933 #artinprogress #inthestudio #pastellandscapes #mysteriouslandscapes #birdsandsnakes #africanweavers
“Mgiba” 22cm x 26cm Pastel on sandpaper @saf “Mgiba” 22cm x 26cm Pastel on sandpaper @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve @morecollection1933 #pastelportrait #leopard #chalkpastel #hardpastel #softpastel
This is Magiba. She was born in July 2023 and she This is Magiba. She was born in July 2023 and she is what you may call, a resident leopard here at @lionsandsgamereserve When I was younger I made a few wildlife paintings as commissions to pay my rent. I would never tell anyone that I make them and never sign them. There was (and is) something odious in the academic art world to being a “wildlife artist”, especially a big 5 wildlife artist! Ever since then, you wouldn’t have caught me dead! This, I feel is different. I met Magiba on a game drive, with my guide Rector. Well, I didn’t shake paws with her exactly, but from the safety of the vehicle we could stare into one another’s eyes. I was impressed. I probably didn’t make any impression at all in my turn. I now treat her as one of my human portraits. Each of her spots has to be on the right place. And these spots are not just spots. They have form, direction and structure and helps to describe the shape of her face. And then those eyes... @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve @morecollection1933 #pastelart #animalportraits #leopard #wildlifeart #chalkpastels #hardpastel #softpastel
Leave me alone, I’m still in progress. 😗 @m Leave me alone, I’m still in progress. 😗 @morecollection1933 @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve #theartstudio #drawingsthatneverend #bushveld #bushscape #drawingsoftrees
“Bokkie” 18cm x 28cm Pastel on sandpaper @saf “Bokkie” 18cm x 28cm Pastel on sandpaper @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve @morecollection1933 #pastelart #chalkpastel #pastelonsandpaper #bushveld #antelope #bokkie
Happy to spend an artist residency @lionsandsgamer Happy to spend an artist residency @lionsandsgamereserve in partnership with @saffca.eu_saffca.npc and @morecollection1933 during the month of November and December.💚🌿 Here you get a visual idea of the inside and surroundings of my studio space. #artresidency #bushveldart #krugerpark #artinnature #pastelart
The devil’s in the details. This is the first t The devil’s in the details. This is the first time I really, really try my hand at landscape. To think that I would carry my obsession with detail over even to this genre! What I’m seeing here probably consists of millions and millions of sticks and perhaps a few ovals which my eyes can’t register. Crazyness! Never saw so many sticks in my life in one location. And I forgot all my pencils in the studio and only had this 0.3mm HB pacer with me! Well, I’ll stick to it until it succeeds, turns out to be an embarrassing and disastrous flop or is irreparably damaged from all the times my paper gets blown into the veld by a sudden gust of wind. I’m learning to accept my obsessions. I have recurring dreams of being late or slow. But, this is who I am. My current en plein air working environment here @lionsandsgamereserve is extremely calm. I learnt ever so many times before, that the way to do it (for me) always goes hand in hand with patience and time. At the beginning it looks awfull, but with preserverence, one sometimes reaches a certain moment where everything just... well there you have it. I listen to birds and insects and animals. I’m sure I hear the occasional hippo from the river’s side? Rarely the “quiet” is interrupted by a distant human made noise. Every now and then an insect crashes into me or run over my paper. Yesterday I saw a newborn antelope strolling across my “scene” following its mother - so newly introduced into this world, that it could barely walk properly yet. Little dots and stripes, like Bambi. Getting drawn into the sticks and sand and air, seeing ever more detail, the closer I look. Definitely not rushing this drawing. Nature is not letting me, my eyes are not letting me. I chose this spot with its degree of human influence, because my romantic side was attracted to a weird screen structure built in the distance from dead pieces of wood and which for some reason reminded me of a scene from Lord of the Rings. The structure will emerge more clearly in the drawing as time goes. @saffca.eu_saffca.npc @lionsandsgamereserve @morecollection1933 #enpleinair #landscapedrawing #bushveld #drawinginprocess
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Contact Info
+27 82 218 1906
Pretoria South Africa
lena@lenahugo.com

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