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This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Fisherman's House

Never a fishermen need there be
If fishes could hear as well as see.
- Author Unknown

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


"Weskushuisie" - Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book - Maree©

Examples of the original little fishermen's houses on the West Coast of South Africa are becoming a rare site and artists seem compelled to capture images of an era long gone by. Not being anywhere near the Cape Province, I did this sketch from imagination.

The West Coast is a region of the Western Cape Province in South Africa and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Swartland region on the east.

The Cape West Coast stretches from Cape Town as far as the border with the Northern Cape at Touws River, including within its parameters the indescribably beautiful Cederberg Mountains, famous for centuries-old rock art. All along this stretch of coastline is a series of quaint historic towns and fishing villages with names like Lambert’s Bay, Paternoster, Saldanha and Langebaan that today roll with ease off the tongue, but until fairly recently were left to languor in relative obscurity.

South Africa's fishing industry has a long and eventful history. As early as 1658, a mere six years after the first permanent settlement at the Cape, four free burghers were given permission to settle in Saldanha Bay. They established themselves as fishermen and sold dried fish to the other burghers as well as to passing ships.

Today, three centuries later, the once unlimited fish stocks have been placed under such pressure through wastage and over-exploitation that it has become necessary to protect them from total decimation. As a result, the government has reduced catch quotas drastically across the whole industry. The number of fish meal and fish oil processing plants has also been reduced.

2 comments:

  1. Oh Maree, having driven up the Weskus over New Year, you would be devastated at the amount of building going on. These little houses are practically non-existent along this coastline making way for those dreadful 'housing complexes'. A bit like District Six, we need to capture what was.

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  2. Hi Liz, I've seen all the deveopment in brochures and on the internet and, like many things in life, the old is making way for the new (not necessarily better) way of life...

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