Karoo Wilderness

A ribbon of treacle running north to south
Flight of the eagle, squeak of the mouse,
A hiccup of hills with long shadowed feet,
Calico sheep walking from a night’s sleep.
Solitary windmills standing lonely and still,
Needle-point perfect the telephone poles,
Peppercorn hills pocked with plat doring bossies,
Burnt grassveld, cacti and bright orange aloes.
Stark wilderness of a new day born –
Come and be witness to a Karoo dawn.

Aldyth Joubert

The post Karoo Wilderness appeared first on 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young.

“He remembers what the spiritual visionary, Wallace Black Elk, a Lakota said – man’s scratching of the earth causes diseases like cancer. He meant the mining and drilling for coal, gas, oil, uranium. The scratching brings up the things deep in the earth that should have stayed down there.”

We were on our way to The Showroom Theatre in Prince Albert. It was a grey day with rain occasionally spattering the windscreen. I looked at the scenery we were passing. The cloudiness lent a strange beauty to the Little Karoo. Narrow, gravel farm roads, red soil, scrubby bushes littering the landscape. It was peppered with Fynbos, Aloe and Protea. Suddenly I remembered reading an article recently about fracking in the Karoo. All of this land of incredible stark beauty will be destroyed! Hold on! Hang on a moment! Whoa! Stop! I needed to find out more about this……
The Karoo, a San phrase meaning ‘Land of the Great Thirst’‚ is bigger than Germany. Yeah, incredible, isn’t it? It is has been captured by well known artists and celebrated by poets for its bleak beauty. But, at the beginning of this year Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu reiterated the government’s commitment to shale-gas exploration – in other words fracking.
What, exactly, is “fracking”?
Fracking, is a process used to extract natural gas  from rock that lies deep underground. Wells are drilled and millions of gallons of fracking fluid injected – a mix of water, sand and harsh chemicals – at a high enough pressure to fracture the shale rock and release the gas.
Millions of gallons of water in the ‘Land of the Great Thirst!’???
It seems that the major argument in favour of fracking in South Africa, is that it could bring much needed economic benefits to the country. According to Shell, developing one tenth of the Karoo for fracking, could generate 200 billion rand per year and create 700,000 jobs.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately in the Karoo, the majority of the unemployed are also unskilled and are therefore unlikely to receive any jobs needed for the technical drilling operations!
In South Africa we are unable to keep up with the supply and demand for electricity. Just two weeks ago, the whole country was subjected to ‘outages’ when a single cooling tower collapsed onto a conveyer belt feeding coal into one of our power stations. A new cleaner source of fuel would seem to be a tremendous idea. South Africa has the fifth biggest reserves of shale gas in the world. But, are we going to have to convert all our existing power stations to operate on gas? Or, are we going to begin building new power stations? As Carte Blanche documented last week, it is obvious from the cooling tower debacle, that we cannot maintain adequately what we already have, never mind building and introducing new technology in the electricity industry.
People claim that fracking is a more sustainable energy solution and that it would significantly reduce South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions. Our filthy coal releases high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, although natural gas may burn cleaner, there is a danger that fracking may release methane into the atmosphere which is far more potent than carbon dioxide.
I am still wondering about this water in ‘the Land of the Great Thirst’?
Apparently the first 24 exploratory wells alone will require 57 MILLION gallons of water! It has been suggested that desalinated sea water be piped to the wells, or water from the Orange River be utilised, rather than depleting local water supplies. Yes, I think, great idea! Although isn’t desalination very expensive and power hungry? And what happens if the pipes fracture or worse yet ‘vanish’ into the black economy???
And, what happens to all this sandy, briny, toxic water after it has been used? If fracking in America is anything to go by, there is a strong possibility that chemicals may leak into porous rock, which could affect thousands of hectares of land for many years. Radioactive particles could also pollute groundwater, which is already scarce in the Karoo. Local villages are already vulnerable to water shortages, often depending on a small number of wells for drinking, washing, and irrigating. Without fracking, South Africa is projected by some to run out of water by 2025. And that is without fracking!
I think about these farms and villages with their quiet, traffic free, single track gravel roads. This tranquil, peaceful heartland that has existed for centuries is going be be obliterated by this new noisy, lorry-laden, polluted industrial wasteland.
And what about those that have no voice? The unique plant-life and animals that run free in this glorious land of ours. Who is going the test their water? Tell me! Who?
Also, Shell wants to frack in an area which conflicts radically with the placement of an enormous radio telescope. This telescope represents a $1.87 billion investment, and can only work if placed far away from industrial activity. I pray the telescope doesn’t get turfed to one side, while the “far more important” fracking takes precedence!
What scares me is that this whole situation is not going to be looked at objectively. One hundred percent of the rights to “frack” are in the hands of the South African government. And my faith in that is minimal! All rational, logical, sensible reasoning is going to be ignored because of…..money!
Who would have thought that passing through the Karoo on a rain splattered day, would have resulted in me becoming so much wiser concerning the F word – Fracking!
I think Russell Gold completely sums up my feelings.
“Fracking ensures that the age of oil and it’s princely hydrocarbon cousin, the natural gas molecule will not end because we have run out of fossil fuels. But it may end because burning these wonderful fuels puts the planet farther down a path we don’t want to head down”
― Russell Gold

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If you have the opportunity to watch the documentary ‘Unearthed’ by Jolynn Minnaar please do!
Click here to link to its official trailer
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The beautiful art in this blog is the work of Karoo artist Lisl Barry – www.lislbarry.co.za

The post A Fracking Disaster! appeared first on 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young.

“To develop a complete mind:

Study the science of art;

Study the art of science;

Learn how to see.

Realise that everything is connected to everything else.”

                                                  Leonard de Vinci

Every time I visit in England, my final two days are spent in London. I say goodbye to family and friends and… a whole morning is spent at The National Art Gallery. I love my time there. Fresh from the hustle and bustle of Trafalgar Square, ‘B’ and I tumble into The Gallery. And give a happy sigh of contentment.  I think after a four frenetic weeks, the quiet and stillness of the National is a heady experience. ‘B’ and I happily meander from room to glorious room.

I know so little about art. But I like it. A lot. I was visiting a friend of mine when I saw the most beautiful painting on her wall. “What a stunning painting! And it’s an original.” I observed as I got closer. I read the artist’s name and drew back in surprise. “Lisl Barry! Your daughter. Shytenhauzen!” I exclaimed. I knew that Lisl painted but I had thought that she merely did the odd bit of hobby stuff. More advanced than paint by numbers, sure, but not much! I was obviously very wrong. Smile. VERY WRONG indeed.

Let me tell you about my friend, the artist, Lisl Barry.

On meeting Lisl, one is instantly struck by her eyes. They are this mesmerising blue and they seem to take you in, all of you – a good thing for a painter.

Looking around her beautiful studio, which is in an old waenhuis (wagon house) located in the grounds of the Rosenhof  Country House at the foot of the Swartberg mountains in Oudtshoorn, one is surprised by the sheer diversity of her work.

Yes, there are paintings that you would expect from someone who lives in the heart of the Karoo: pictures of  wide open dusty plains with huge blue skies, rusting water pumps, men herding goats and sheep, and children playing games in the dust.

But as Lisl says herself, “she now paints that which resonates with her eye and steals her breath – mostly quite ordinary moments transformed by the changing of light.” Looking at her paintings it is obvious that Lisl’s awe of the wonderful effect of light greatly influences her work.

Some of more recent works were inspired by an incident with her two young daughters standing on a bridge looking at the water running and tumbling below them. It swirled, puckered and foamed, leaped into the air as it hit a rock and continued on its way. The water fascinated her and she wanted to portray the tumult of what she saw.

I love the paintings that she does from her artistic imagination.Childs Peace is definitely my favourite. It has an innocence and a childishness to it that I find utterly entrancing. Last Christmas I was given African Dream Tree. The painting seems to vibrate with a colour and mirth all of its own. It also seems to echo my enchantment with rainbows.

In Lisl’s studio there is a painting of a Moroccan looking church.Standing outside the church is this goat. Lisl told me that there were also chickens, people, the odd cow ambling past. And yet here was this place of refuge amidst the vibrance and tumult of village life. It was kept beautifully. There might not be that much money for food and yet the door was painted regularly – green! I fell in love with the paintings name: God’s Green Door.

At the moment Lisl is working on a painting that I would sell my body for! It is of a grove of Silver Birch trees. They look other worldly in their delicacy and strangely enough, their strength. It is captivating in it’s gracefulness.

Tucked away on a shelf was a pile of books, 52 Ways to Grow Creative Children. I love this book that Lisl wrote. Lisl studied photography at Cape Town Tech and it is put to such good use in this book. It inspires parents to spend time connecting with their young children doing simple creative activities.

One’s art changes with oneself. I asked Lisl “where she saw herself in five years time?” and she replied: “I take each day as it comes.”

“And her best critic?” There was no hesitation in her response: “My husband, Tom.” She laughs. “He is my best and worst critic!”

Jacana have kindly given me a number of copies of Lisl’s book to give away to my blog followers. If you would like to enter a draw for one of these, please post a ‘Reply’ at the end of this blog saying why you would like a copy! I will contact the winners via email for postal address details. The draw will take place on Friday 15th November. I am afraid because of postage costs this ‘giveaway’ is only open to SA residents.

The post The Eyes of an Artist! appeared first on 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young.