The Africa Story

This is a photo collage of a great adventure my husband Bill and I had in Uganda.

Here’s some background first. Our company works with the premier bronze foundry in England, Pangolin Editions located in Stroud. We became friends with the owners, Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig and learned of their foundry in Kasese, Uganda, Rwenzori Art Centre. Ugandan art students were trained at Pangolin Editions in Stroud and then they returned to the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains to not only build a foundry, but also a medical facility, art studios and a beautiful gallery.

After a great safari with National Geographic Travel, Rungwe recommended that we spend a few additional days and go to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (meaning “Place of Darkness” because of the thick bamboo) in south-west Uganda to visit the mountain gorillas. Tourism is controlled with various permits and a health check. Bwindi is notable for its 400 mountain gorillas which comprise half of the world’s endangered mountain gorilla population. Needless to say it was a rare privilege and one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever done. We hiked for 6 hours with two armed guards who were on the lookout for poachers. The gorillas are illusive and move around foraging. We were also advised to hire two “helpers” to navigate the steep terrain. We originally declined but were convinced and then eternally grateful afterward. The terrain is extremely steep. You either go straight up or straight down in Bwindi. The reward was 20 minutes with a troop of magnificent mountain gorillas.

Before our trip I sculpted 4 bas relief panels in clay (24”x 9”) depicting African animals. I made rubber molds in Napa, CA and sent them to Rwenzori Art Center for bronze casting. Photos of the works in progress in wax were sent to me along the way.

We arrived and were lodged at the facility (built on location from locally made bricks) and we were left that night to be guarded by “Drongo” a rather ferocious black dog who carried on all night scaring off whatever was lurking about.

The following day I worked with Basaza Emmanuel and David Bwanbale on finishing touches and patina inspired by leaves and stones I collected on the property to describe the color.