Namibia

The Desert"ed" Sands - I was inspired upon returning from a visit to Namibia .I loved the sheer isolation and beauty of the yellow maize coloured sands and the cobalt blue sky . on returning , I immediately these colours a new white canvas.This painting is more than just a landscape, but a tribute to the shear beauty of this formidably landscape The Namib Desert and Southwest Angola forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The name "Namib" is of Nama origin and means vast. The desert occupies an area of around 80,900 km²[1] (31,200 square miles), stretching about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) along the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia. Its east-west width varies from 30 to 100 miles (50-160 km).

Namibian Splendor - The Namib Desert also reaches into Southwest Angola. It is one of the 500 distinct hysiographic provinces of the South African Platform physiographic division.

Having endured arid or semi-arid conditions for at least 55 million years[2], it is considered to be the oldest desert in the world.

The Namib's aridity is caused by the descent of dry air of the Hadley Cell, cooled by the cold Benguela current along the coast. It has less than 10 mm (0.4 inches) of rain annually and is almost completely barren. A number of unusual species of plants and animals are found only in this desert. One of these is Welwitschia mirabilis, one of the most unusual species. Welwitschia is a shrub-like plant, but grows just two long strap-shaped leaves continuously throughout its lifetime. These leaves may be several meters long, gnarled and twisted from the desert winds. The taproot of the plant develops into a flat, concave disc in age. Welwitschia is notable for its survival in the extremely arid conditions in the Namib, sometimes deriving moisture from the coastal sea fogs.