NOMKHUBULWANE

Last week we took a trip down to Durban to deliver a few of my carvings to the gallery shop and were delighted to see they were exhibiting one of Andries Botha's fantastic life-size elephants.

Nomkhubulwane is woven out of recycled car tyres.

"Nomkhubulwane is the Zulu Goddess of rain, nature, and fertility, and is regarded as the Mother Earth. She is believed to be capable of changing into different types of animals. The name Nomkhubulwane means "she who chooses the state of an animal." - Andries Botha.

There are currently 14 elephants made by Botha and his team. These are placed in many locations around the world.

This isn't the first time I have featured Botha's elephants on my blog. (See here.) These are the elephants that stole my heart. No wonder .....they are contructed of thousands of little pieces of wood and the longer they remain outdoors the more weathered they become.

The top three photographs are mine but the other photographs come from Andries Botha's website. Wander over to see more amazing work by this South African sculptor .

"YOU CAN BUY MY HEART AND MY SOUL"

This sculpture/installation by Andries Botha touches my heart. It is called "You can buy my heart and my soul" and consists of 9 life sized elephants constructed of thousands of little wooden pieces, bolted onto metal frameworks.

Andries Botha who comes from my neck of the woods in KwaZulu Natal, enlisted the help of several traditional carvers to help construct the elephants. There is something about these elephants walking into the sea that effects me to the point of tears.

They were originally made for the Beaufort 2006 Art Project in Belgium and graced the beach at De Panne for 6 months. Imagine seeing a herd of elephants walking along a windsept beach and into the sea. An awesome sight!

They were moved to the Antwerp Zoo as part of the zoo's "Year of the Elephant" theme.

All the photographs above come from Botha's website. To see more go here.

This photograph is the property of http://www.hotels-belgium.com/

An interesting site for African Elephant facts here.