Today's outing is to the village of Nieu Bethesda, often dubbed 'the village left behind in time'. Actually, the original settlers declared that 'this place shall be known as Bethesda' but in translation it was garbled into 'New/Nieu Bethesda'. Were it not for the amazing and bizarre Owl House, it might not see many tourists. That and the Kitching Fossil Center are what bring us here on a gorgeous sunny day.
First stop is The Owl House . . .
. . . with the title of this blog a header over the opening to the amazing garden of sculptures.
Helen Martins was born here in the late 1800's, the youngest of six children, trained as a teacher in Graaf-Reinert, married, divorced, and returned to Nieu Bethesda to care for her ailing parents some time in the 1940's. Her mother died first, and her aging, ailing father was apparently quite difficult. When he finally died, she painted his room black, bricked up the windows and labeled it 'the Lion's Den'. Then she set out to create a series of sculptures based on the Bible, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayham and the poetry of William Blake - talk about a bizarre set of influences! And once you walk out into the 'sculpture garden' it all becomes clear - or even more bizarre!
She had a working partner, a local black man, which was very controversial and gave the locals much cause for gossip. For over 20 years, the two of them labored on her creations which reflected her peculiar and unique vision.
She was fascinated with light and created a number of sculptures using discarded bottles wired and cemented into imaginative forms . . .
A variation on the nativity???
Her fascination with light led her to collect bottles - thousands of them - and crush them and then daub the shards onto wet paint on the interior walls of her house.
Every wall and ceiling and window sill and door jamb has this sparkly quality thanks to this crushed glass. At the age of 78, going blind and becoming crippled - no longer able to see or pursue her creative visions - Helen ended her life. The Owl House became a museum in 1992 and has been declared a provisional South African national monument.
Thought this was a fitting ending for our visit to the house. . .
And we're off to the Fossil Center (no, it's not an old age home!!). And, no, that is not some prehistoric creature in the background . . .
James Kitching, a South African, was probably the greatest fossil collector of all time. He found his first fossil at age six and decided right then that this was his life's calling. Thanks to his discoveries, research, and energies, we have learned about the reptiles that inhabited this whole region of Africa. We've learned how the one earth theory is supported by fossil finds here and in corresponding southern areas of South America and even in Antartica. And today we've met replicas of a host of rather nasty looking reptiles that pre-dated the dinosaurs we know so well (T rex, stegosaurus, brontosaurus and the gang) by almost 200 million years!!
Our guide is Melanie, a budding paleontologist, who shows us how skeletons are painstakingly removed from their stone surroundings using a dental drill.
And then we go out into 'the field' and see some fossils in situ! The field is about a block up the street and is a big rock shelf that still holds fossils from 250 million years ago! A huge flood several years ago revealed a whole new crop, some of which we are looking at today.
These have been left in place as all the museums have more than enough of this particular skull and see no need to excavate any more! No prob - leave this 250 million year old fossil right where it is!! Melanie shows us several more fossils left in place,
We can't help but laugh at the fact that the local kids ride their horses here and the whole fossil field is littered with horse poop!
Nieu Bethesda's main street . . .
. . . and one of its decorations and a very sweet lady who agreed to pose with it.
Delightful day in a very quirky and delightful town.
First stop is The Owl House . . .
. . . with the title of this blog a header over the opening to the amazing garden of sculptures.
Helen Martins was born here in the late 1800's, the youngest of six children, trained as a teacher in Graaf-Reinert, married, divorced, and returned to Nieu Bethesda to care for her ailing parents some time in the 1940's. Her mother died first, and her aging, ailing father was apparently quite difficult. When he finally died, she painted his room black, bricked up the windows and labeled it 'the Lion's Den'. Then she set out to create a series of sculptures based on the Bible, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayham and the poetry of William Blake - talk about a bizarre set of influences! And once you walk out into the 'sculpture garden' it all becomes clear - or even more bizarre!
She had a working partner, a local black man, which was very controversial and gave the locals much cause for gossip. For over 20 years, the two of them labored on her creations which reflected her peculiar and unique vision.
She was fascinated with light and created a number of sculptures using discarded bottles wired and cemented into imaginative forms . . .
A variation on the nativity???
And a self-portrait??
Her fascination with light led her to collect bottles - thousands of them - and crush them and then daub the shards onto wet paint on the interior walls of her house.
Every wall and ceiling and window sill and door jamb has this sparkly quality thanks to this crushed glass. At the age of 78, going blind and becoming crippled - no longer able to see or pursue her creative visions - Helen ended her life. The Owl House became a museum in 1992 and has been declared a provisional South African national monument.
Thought this was a fitting ending for our visit to the house. . .
And we're off to the Fossil Center (no, it's not an old age home!!). And, no, that is not some prehistoric creature in the background . . .
James Kitching, a South African, was probably the greatest fossil collector of all time. He found his first fossil at age six and decided right then that this was his life's calling. Thanks to his discoveries, research, and energies, we have learned about the reptiles that inhabited this whole region of Africa. We've learned how the one earth theory is supported by fossil finds here and in corresponding southern areas of South America and even in Antartica. And today we've met replicas of a host of rather nasty looking reptiles that pre-dated the dinosaurs we know so well (T rex, stegosaurus, brontosaurus and the gang) by almost 200 million years!!
Our guide is Melanie, a budding paleontologist, who shows us how skeletons are painstakingly removed from their stone surroundings using a dental drill.
And then we go out into 'the field' and see some fossils in situ! The field is about a block up the street and is a big rock shelf that still holds fossils from 250 million years ago! A huge flood several years ago revealed a whole new crop, some of which we are looking at today.
These have been left in place as all the museums have more than enough of this particular skull and see no need to excavate any more! No prob - leave this 250 million year old fossil right where it is!! Melanie shows us several more fossils left in place,
We can't help but laugh at the fact that the local kids ride their horses here and the whole fossil field is littered with horse poop!
Nieu Bethesda's main street . . .
. . . and one of its decorations and a very sweet lady who agreed to pose with it.
Delightful day in a very quirky and delightful town.
