Pumba

While staying in Kruger National Wildlife Refuge, Maureen literally ran inot this guy as she walked between the main lodge and her cabin. He didn't seem to pay much attention to her, though. He just did what warthogs do ... follow their noses and eat! They were able to get several shots of the beast as he made his way across the compound.

Mo's gorilla

One of the highlights of Maureen's trip to Africa was "gorilla trekking" in Uganda. She said it was one of the hardest yet rewarding things she had ever done! After hiking nearly three a hours straight up hill, they finally found the gorilla family munching away on leaves at the top of the mountain. She got some great shots of the group, but this image was my favorite, so naturally its the one I just had to paint!

The Blacksmith Shop @ Haun's Mill

 I was asked to do one other painting for this commemoration ... the blacksmith shop at Haun's Mill. This is the place where the saints took final refuge from the mob as they began their work of destruction. In all, 17 men and boys were murdered before it was all over at the hands of over 200 men on horseback, their anonymity hidden behind their painted black faces. Sobering indeed to contemplate the horrors that went on here so many years ago.

After studying the journal accounts of the settlement and events, this is how I envisioned the blacksmith shop. It was built and owned by a member of the church, James Houston, and was still under construction at the time of the tragedy, so the cracks between the logs were not chinked or dobbed. It was about 18' square, made of local timber and a bark roof.

When the mob rode in, the men went to the blacksmith shop where they had hidden their remaining weapons (the locals had illegally disarmed the saints previously several times).  The women and children ran to the woods to hide. Basically, the men were defenseless.  The mob came with their weapons and their bullets and their guns.  The blacksmith shop was not secure enough that it could protect them, so the guns went through the spaces in the logs. 

This has been a sobering yet faith promoting experience for me to participate in this project. I am grateful for those survivors and their descendants who have risen above this incident through the years, their faith still in tact.