The drowned lands of Saeftingen

Saeftingen 1 oils on canvas 70 x 110 cm

On the Westerschelde estuary, just north of the Dutch/ Belgium border lies a stroke of wetland called "the drowned lands of Saeftingen". The tidal currents are large here and have formed spectacular estuarian landscapes. The plants and animals that dwell here are adapted to an environment which can suddely change from fresh water to salty. The saltyness determines which planrts grow where. In summer some of these plants turn deep red. You can see in which season the Google Earth satellilte images have been taken bij the colours of the vegetation.

Drama in mud

oil on canvas 80 x 100 cm

Strictly speaking this is not Google Earth Art, I didn't use a satellite image for this but photo's I took along the Waal river (nearby). The eb and flow caused by ships passing by have the effect of a miniature tidalwave on the sandbanks. The erosion shows up all sorts of layers of clays and different soils which stick out because they erode less than the sand. But if I told you these were chalkcliffs in some desert landscape you might just as wel believe it. What fascinates me is that all these forms and structures are repeated at every level. Mud fascinates me in any case: the place where life probably started.  Sorry about the bad flashlight foto, I'll replace it by a better daylight one soon.