After our trip through Senegal, I created several works inspired by the beautiful stately African women, their colorful clothing and, of course, the beautiful nature.
This lady -who wanted to sell her jewelry- was posing proudly, near the 'Rose Lake' (Lac Rose). A lake that unfortunately was gray when we were there. So I made up the background and colors myself. I drew everything and colored it on my IPad. To be honest, I had a bit of a 'lame hand' after I had worked out the colorful fabric. But it is still great to do.
The lake gets its name from the color of the water, which is pinkish to mauve depending on the time of day. This is due to the fact that the high salt concentration refracts the light differently and to the presence of red plankton.
In the background you can see how salt mining is done. The salt is simply scooped out of the lake and piled in heaps on the beach.
Karen Nijst has lived in and near her beloved hometown of Maastricht for many years. She currently works as a web developer (Kahlo Websites in Hapert, Brabant) and is responsible for both programming and graphic design . The latter has undoubtedly influenced some of the drawings you can see.. Read more…