Acrylic, Charcoal, and Marker on Canvas
100x120 cm
2024
I painted this mostly because I wanted to... I took a photograph of these buffalo while I was in the Zambezi Valley, and for many years this painting existed as an imagined fantasy in my mind. At the start of 2024, I decided on two things, I wanted to paint a large green acrylic on canvas artwork, and I wanted it to include these juxtapositions of Buffalo.
It took about 250 hours, spread over the course of 3 months and it was an immense joy!
If a Buffalo hasn’t swallowed the grass it's chewing, it does not yet own that grass, as it may die before swallowing.
Sometimes we celebrate the achievement of a goal before it has been accomplished. This behaviour may be foolish, as often unexpected events happen at the final moment.
Do not take anything for granted. Do not celebrate too early, play to the whistle.
These buffalo have run the race, crossed the finish line, and broken the ribbon. The grass is indeed, theirs.
Inspired by the Shona Tsumo: ” Huswa hwenyati ndohuri mudumbu, huri pamuromo inofa naho”
Translation: The elders said “A buffalo should consider as its own grass that has reached its stomach, the grass in its mouth is not guaranteed as it may die before swallowing.”
Interpretation: Sometimes the process to accomplish some goal seems so obvious that you can consider it done. But doing so may be foolish as it has happened time and again that something unexpected goes wrong at the last minute.
Application: Do not take anything for granted. Even those things that seem done and dusted should not be neglected until they are really accomplished and there is evidence that they are completed. Do not stop pursuing that client until they have signed the deal. The promise that they have bought in is not enough. The signature is what you need.
Do not celebrate too early. There are many examples in sport where athletes lost the medal because of relaxing in that last few metres or minutes of the race or game. Keep fighting until you cross the finish line. Don’t stop fighting until the final whistle. You do not want to cry over what could have been. Tears won’t change things at that time.
Pursue everything to its conclusion. Don’t be satisfied by anything less. Do not count your chicks before they hatch. It does not matter the conditions that prevail. Things have changed in the last minute. Don’t let that happen to you by relaxing when it matters most.
