Namibian artist, Christine Marais, will be exhibiting her recent paintings at the Omba Gallery at the Namibian Craft Centre, starting today at 18h30 and running until September 29. Christine Marais’ long association with natural scientists and geologists reveals her fascination with the life forms that exist in abundance in the desert, and the unique natural formations of the Namib. These are evident in the present exhibition of paintings, which include birds, insects and plants as well as sweeping Namib landscapes. Although Christine has exhibited works at launches of books she has co-authored (Birding in Namibia and Passage Through Time – the Fossils of Namibia), this will be her first exhibition of paintings not associated with a book in Windhoek since 1982. Christine has lived and worked in Swakopmund since 1976; her regular trips into the vast landscapes of sand dunes and rocky plains surrounding her hometown have resulted in a body of work that captures the ephemeral colours, the stark contrasts and the unlimited spaces of the desert that intrigue her. Her paintings also include landscapes that range far across Namibia to the giant baobabs in the Bushmanland pans and south, to the plants of the southern Namib. Dr Mary Seely, director of the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, and long-time friend of Christine Marais, will open the exhibition.