Baby Elephant walk

“Be humble as the blade of grass that is being trodden underneath the feet. The little ant tastes joyously the sweetness of honey and sugar. The mighty elephant trembles in pain under the agony of sharp goad.” 

- John Ruskin

African elephants (Loxodonta africana), unlike their Asian relatives, are not easily domesticated. They range throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the rain forests of central and West Africa. The continent’s northern-most elephants are found in Mali’s Sahel desert. The small, nomadic herd of Mali elephants migrates in a circular route through the desert in search of water. 

Having a baby elephant is a serious commitment. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal—almost 22 months. Cows usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh some 200 pounds (91 kilograms) and stand about 3 feet (1 meter) tall. 

• Elephants typically reach puberty at thirteen or fourteen years of age 
• They have offspring up until they are around fifty years old 
• They may live seventy years or possibly more 
• A cow produces a single calf and in very rare cases twins 
• The interval between births is between two and a half to four years 
•  An elephant´s trunk, a union of the nose and upper lip, is a highly sensitive organ with over 100,000 muscle units.

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Valentine roses

 Black ink sketch with Coffee (Nescafé instant, very strong) plus Cadmium Red and a mix of greens

Valentine’s Day reminds me 

of the smile I smile

every time I think of you, 

the emotional lift I feel 

at the sound of your name. 

Valentine’s Day reminds me 

of the strength and comfort I get 

from knowing 

there are people like you in my life. 

Everything good about Valentine’s Day 

reminds me of you. 

Happy Valentine’s Day! 

By Joanna Fuchs

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Cheetah on the rocks

Black Pilot FineLiner ink sketch and W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm 

Stalks of brittle grass, towering and light-russet in colour, rose several feet high on the breezy African plain. A faint rustle sounded among the grass. Two sparks of amber, the eyes of a creature, lit up the maze of grass like candle flames, and hovered there. The crackle of shifting stalks grew louder until the grass parted, revealing a magnificent beast, dappled pelt rippling as if made of glistening gold. 

Majestically, the cheetah strode into a rock clearing where a light breeze blew swirling dust at her head. She blinked, unfazed. Suddenly, crouching into a stalking position, her muscles pulsed with tension. With explosive speed, she propelled herself across the plain… 

- Read the rest of this lovely story at A Day on the Savannah 

The Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has unusually low genetic variability. This is accompanied by a very low sperm count, motility, and deformed flagella. Skin grafts between unrelated cheetahs illustrate the former point in that there is no rejection of the donor skin. It is thought that the species went through a prolonged period of inbreeding following a genetic bottleneck during the last ice age. 

Cheetahs are found in open and partially open savannahs, inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East and they are basically solitary animals. At times, a male will accompany a female for a short while after mating, but most often the female is alone or with her cubs. Cheetah mothers spend a long time teaching their young how to hunt. Small live antelopes are brought back to the cubs so they can learn to chase and catch them. 

Cheetahs do not roar like lions, but they purr, hiss, whine and growl. They also make a variety of contact calls – the most common is a bird-like chirping sound. They are the only existing felines that do not possess retractable claws.

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Keep Peace in your Soul

"In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul." 

I just love playing with free textures I find on the web and use them as back-grounds to a lot of my paintings. Here I have used one of Kim Klassen's textures, which worked out well with this arum Lily.

I often print out the texture first and then paint on top of it, but in this case I added my Arum Lily image to the texture in PhotoShop. Printed out on some watercolour paper it makes a lovely every-day card.

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Why grow Geraniums in pots?

Because it’s easy! 

W&N watercolour in hand-made sketch-book with satin-finish linen paper 

No sketching before-hand

Last year some time, I was given a small Geranium plant by Redbubble friend Antionette, a lovely little specimen which I planted in a terracotta pot, which now takes pride of place on my patio. I haven’t had geraniums for some time now, so this special plant is highly coveted! 

Whilst in a pot, watering and weeding are easy – there’s just the pot to water and weeding is almost completely eliminated. It’s easy to move them around – you can have color where ever you want it, almost instantly. No garden is required – you can grow them on the front steps, the back deck or your apartment balcony. 

One thing I have discovered is that Geraniums HATE wet feet and will not be happy in soggy soil. And with all the rain we’ve been having, that’s all that’s been required in the waterig department to keep ‘her’ happy.

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