JUST ME :: and a stack of blank pages

:: Living creatively ::

About me

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!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Mulder's Drift

But the majestic river floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that low land, Into the frosty starlight.
-Arnold, Matthew


"The Mulder's Drift" - ink sketch and watercolour in Moleskine sketch-book 8" x 5.5"

The area of Tarlton is surrounded by a plethora of streams and little rivers, many originating as storm water flow offs from Randfontein, Krugersdorp and Roodepoort or from springs emerging in various vleis (swamp lands) situated all over the Witwatersrand. This little stream, known as the Mulder's Drift, originates somewhere in Strubensvalley, and flows through the sleepy village of Muldersdrift on its way to join the Crocodile River, eventually ending up at Hartebeespoort Dam, from where the overflow joins South Africa's biggest River, the Orange River, which passes the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert and winds through the Namib Desert before draining into the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay, South Africa.

Below you can see where this humble little stream ends up!


The Orange River mouth and wetland on the coast of Namibia. At the mouth of the river are rich alluvial diamond beds. A sandbar at its mouth limits navigation, but the river is used extensively for irrigation.

8 comments:

  1. I love this sketch Maree. It's so simple, yet says such a lot - Just the type of sketching I am aiming for!

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  2. Thanks Sandra, quick sketching is useful to loosen up and not get embedded in too many details.

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  3. Haaai...ek onthou vir Muldersdrift! 'n Baie mooi skets die!!
    Ronell xx

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  4. Dankie Ronell, dit vloei mos net daar verby die Drift Inn hotel en onder die hoofweg deur.

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  5. Lovely little painting Maree. Mulder's Drift holds so much history, so many tales to tell!

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  6. Thank you Carol, and Muldersdrift also offers some great places to sketch!

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  7. This is so delightful Maree - one forgets that so many of these little tributaries in the north eventually end up in the Orange River and so to the big wide Atlantic.

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  8. Thank you Liz. It's especially difficult to believe where they end up when you can see the humble origins!

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