Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Donkey Sanctuary

Outside Cape Town, on the road to the Eastern Cape, there is a sanctuary specially for abused and neglected donkeys.

These humble animals have been used and abused for centuries, worked to death and because they are so unglamorous, not much attention is paid to their plight.  Thank goodness for places like this one.

A friend took this picture whilst travelling through the area, a wonderful composition which I have tried to do justice to.  Landscapes again!  Oh dear!





A close-up of the three.

32 comments:

Prabal said...

Great compassion in bringing up such a place. And hence this painting is special.

nouvelles couleurs - vienna atelier said...

I like this very much! I never been in South Africa, but I read a lot about, thank you for those picture

Autumn Leaves said...

This is just so lovely and your heart is wonderful, Liz. I hate hearing of any animal abuses and neglect. Seriously makes me cry to know of this. So much of this goes on in the world that it breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes as I type. You've made these animals as beautiful as they are in reality. Gorgeous!

Willy. said...

DONKEY'S in the landscape!!!
The painting is a response, to the text..

Rachel said...

What a wonderful painting and story behind the painting. You can really tell that these donkeys feel safe where they are now and are tired after hard lives. Nice work.

Art with Liz said...

Animals will always be a passion for me Prabal. And when I saw this pic, it was an aaaah moment! Thank you dear friend.


Hello Laura and thank you. I hope you do visit my wonderful, colourful, topsy turvy country one day!

Art with Liz said...

Oh my Sherry, your comment went straight to my heart. Thank you special lady, for always being there.


Hi Willy, donkeys I love, landscapes I battle with! But it's not so bad doing landscapes WITH donkeys in them! Thank you so much.

Art with Liz said...

Hi there Rachel and thank you for a lovely comment! I love Klaus by the way and am going to put him and Benny and Lily under a special header on my sidebar!

Carol Blackburn said...

Cute little fellas, Liz. Very nice.

Gary Keimig said...

very interesting Liz. They certainly deserve a painting of themselves.
Thanks too for the kind comment on my art blog.

Becky said...

You have served them well in this painting. They are content and are getting the treatment they so much deserve.

Marian Fortunati said...

Love the donkeys..

For some reason they always look so cute to me... I wonder why?

Manon said...

Awe... what a great painting. Thank you for sharing the story!

Nan Johnson said...

Wonderful work Liz, you do them justice. And thank you for your stories & insights to South Africa. My mother-in-law is from South Africa (village of George if you know that area), and your blog helps me to understand her world a bit more.

Maree Clarkson said...

Aaaaaw, how utterly sweet Liz! And gorgeously done! They are such endearing animals and you've shown their sweetness beautifully!

Marie Theron said...

The painting is lovely and we all like to hear such stories, I plan to visit the donkey sanctuary some day, is it near McGregor, Liz?

Claire Beadon Carnell said...

You have perfectly captured the sweetness of the donkeys - this is lovely!

Art with Liz said...

Thank you Carol - they are kind of cute creatures aren't they!


Hi Gary, thank you and you're welcome.

Art with Liz said...

Dear Becky, thank you so much. And I loved that video of the tortoises!


Maybe because they are cute Marian??? Anyway I think so as well. Thank you.

Art with Liz said...

Hi Manon, you're welcome and thank you so much!


Thank you Nancie. And yes, George is just down the road, about a 5 hour drive to the East along the Garden Route. It is not a village anymore! Has big town status now! I went through George last year.

Art with Liz said...

Thank you so much Maree!


Hi Marie, thank you and yes, that's the place!

Art with Liz said...

Thank you so much Claire.

padmaja said...

Kudos to you Liz for thinking of painting them, I wish more and more will make them their subject.. your compassion shows in the way you painted them, nice gesture and nicer work!

Charlene Brown said...

And thank goodness for caring people like you, who can produce beautiful paintings that make us think.

Melanie Statnick said...

Thank you for sharing, its good to know there is aplace out there for them. You captured them at peace

Unknown said...

Well done Liz, I love donkeys too, you did a great job!

Barbara Pask said...

How sweet, such a wonderful painting and such cute animals.

hmuxo said...

How wonderful that they have places for them where they can be at peace and again Liz, you captured that beautiful moment on canvas. You did an amazing job with this ...love it.

Anonymous said...

It is a lovely composition and you have done it great justice. It is not easy painting three animals close together like this and have it look so natural.
Jean

Arti said...

Don't know why they are abused so much..just becaue they are timid and harmless?..
Nice thing you thought of taking them as subjects:)well done!

Dean H. said...

Very well done painting, Liz!!
All animal abuse is a shame to humanity.
They (and we) are all God's creatures.

Tweedles -- that's me said...

Precious donkeys!
Do you know my moms rescued 2 donkeys. Their names were Hershy Bar and Kady Bell.
You did an awsome job for sure.
love
tweedles