Shamwari means friend in Africa.
This morning I received a beautiful photo from a "friend" in South Africa. Brettell Hone is the author of the book I illustrated that is out now. "My African Bedtime Rhymes" and he is also a great humanitarian. One of his recent projects involved working with the children of the Appel Farm school in his region presenting a play.
From the photo I chose a composite of several children to create "Shamwari." I had such fun doing this, because the children are so full of delight and energy. Brettell says they have "radioactive" energy and I can just imagine as a former teacher what it takes to corral that energy into positive action.
I am so happy to have been involved in Brettell's book and look forward to hearing more about the children from the Appel School.
They are rehearsing Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" to get into the mode of learning to recite rhymes. Later they will move on to more difficult works.
2 comments:
Ginger, What an exciting and beautiful project to illustrate! Your description sounds like you enjoyed the process. The illustration is remarkably handsome.
I can just image what radioactive energy is like - very contagious.
Wonderful post and a beautiful portrait!
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