Sunday, April 11, 2010

Velddrif in April

A group of us went up to Velddrif this past week to do some painting.  Hah!  How can you improve on nature?

It is such a beautiful time of year here with Autumn peaking round the corner.  The days are still lovely and warm and the nights are starting to hint at the chill to come, but it's still t-shirts and shorts for a few more weeks.  There were no mosquitoes, the wind was just a breeze and the company was wonderful.

In lieu of posting any scribbles that I did do, here are some of the scenes we were subjected to from the front stoep of the house we were staying at.


Our early morning flamingo view


The pelicans came gliding past late afternoon along with the spoonbills



And at sunset


On our way back, we popped in to meet wonderful West Coast artist Marie Theron and saw her wonderful paintings in real life!   And we were treated in true Afrikaans hospitality with coffee and cake in their really beautiful home.  Thank you Marie and Phillip.  We will be seeing you again.

28 comments:

Prabal said...

What a beautiful place.. You are so lucky to have been there.

BTW DC v/s RCB was a great match with DC winning and yesterday RCB was too good against KKR. What hitting by Uthappa.

Marie Theron said...

Hi Liz, it was lovely meeting you, Ginty and Barbara....we yapped so much that we forgot to take a photo of us together! Do come again, we really did not have time to explore the beach.

Your Velddrif photos are beautiful...amazing little Bokkom Lane, how can tourists prefer the bright lights, the glitzy shops, the malls and all that glitters above scenes such as these!

Ramesh Jhawar said...

Aahh...lovely photographs Liz!! Indeed a beautiful place and very inspiring for artists. How I wish I were there :)
And it always feels great to meet another fellow artist!

Autumn Leaves said...

Beautiful photos, Liz!! Wish I could have tagged along!

Dean H. said...

How fortunate you are! These are gorgeous photos of God's creative power! Amazing!

Marie is such a gracious host on her blog, it must have been thrilling to have met her in person!

Saundra Lane Galloway said...

Oh Liz...these are BEAUTIFUL, and so peaceful! I am always amazed that on the other side of the world so to speak you are getting ready for colder weather while we are coming out of it...Well, I really hope you paint from at least one of these!!

L.Holm said...

Wow, what a magical, beautiful place. beautiful photos. Must have been a super day.

martinealison said...

Merci de nous faire partager de si émouvantes photos de la vie... Quel spectacle prodigieux. Même avec les moustiques je m'invite!
Amitiés

Peggy Montano & Paintings said...

Great photographs Liz. I appreciate that you shared them. Spring is here as you welcome Fall.
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving the welcomed comment.

Manon said...

Lovely photos!! What a great trip! You're very lucky to have met Marie!!

Charlene Brown said...

These photos are really stunning -- make me want to see South Africa again. Next time, try not to forget a picture of the bunch of you, to make it easier for all of us to imagine we're there as well.

René PleinAir said...

Ik zag Veldrif and thought thats raar!

How can you improve from nature, ... how can't you?!

Judybec said...

beautiful photos -- especially the last one! glad you had time to enjoy this beautiful place and share it with us!!

Art with Liz said...

Hi Prabal, yes it is really lovely being there, no noise, no pollution, just nature in all her glory.

What a great game against DC! But I'm glad they beat KKR to maintain their position in the top 4. Thank you Uthappa! What a hitter! We are very lucky here in that we get all the games on live broadcast - IPL is now in our bloodstreams!


Ah Marie, thank YOU! I forgot to mention the welcoming sherry!! And I agree with you about the bright lights vs the tranquility of the country - given the chance I would be out there with you.

Art with Liz said...

Dear Ramesh, I wish you all could come here, but if you want to paint the photos, be my guest! I always think of you guys and your plein air work when I'm in the country.


You would have loved it Sherry! So peaceful and so inspiring. Get your coloured pencils out and try the flamingos!

Art with Liz said...

Hi there Dean. You are so right, God's unspoiled nature is a sight to behold! And Marie epitomises the warmth and hospitality of our beautiful country - it was wonderful meeting her!


Thank you Saundra! We see scenes like this all year round - it just gets colder standing outside! Enjoy your Spring, it's a wonderful time of year.

Tereza said...

Hullo Liz
What georgous photos. It was soo nice to meet you and Barbara and Ginti. Yes, I only remembered to take a photo of the three of you long after you were gone! Next time maybe. When you coming up here again???
Tz

Art with Liz said...

Hi there Liz, yes it was great and for more than one day - 3 in fact!


C'était mon Martine plaisir! Heureusement il n'y avait pas de moustiques!

Art with Liz said...

Dear Peggy, thank you for the lovely comment and for visiting my blog!


Hello Manon, yes, I was very lucky to meet Marie and I will definitely be visiting her again. She has a beautiful house overlooking the sea - stunning!

Art with Liz said...

Hi Charlene, gosh I do have pics of the others. There is one I plan to turn into a painting so must remember to post the original at the same time so you can see the vistas. Never thought of putting us up!


No,no Rene - you can depict nature in her glory - I just enjoy looking at the original. My plein air talents are sorely lacking when I look at scenes like these.

Art with Liz said...

Hi Judy, thank you so much and it was my pleasure.


Hi Tereza, another wonderful artist we met! But doesn't have a blog yet! I never think of taking photos of people - stupid isn't it! Please keep going with those amazing abstracts - and as soon as you let me have your pics, we can set up your very own blog to post them! Hugs to you.

jyothisethu said...

liz,
you really had a wonderful journey...
thanks for sharing the pictures...
looking for more pictures and paintings from you...

the previous post, 'the storm brewing' is wonderful...
i failed to comment because i was out of station visiting my home, which is always refreshing...
only thing is that i lose opportunity to have access to the net...

congrats for the post, painting and picture...

Rhonda Hartis Smith said...

Hi Liz,

This is sooooo beautiful, thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Have a wonderful week :-)

Rosemary said...

Liz, it was great reading about your trip and seeing these scenic photos! A bit like our Florida beaches and yet so different! The white pelicans are fabulous! We have lots and lots of brown ones. That you could visit Marie and see her art must have topped off the memorable time spent with your friends and nature! Thanks for sharing!

Marian Fortunati said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I noticed that Marie had posted paintings from the same place... Did you paint together??
How nice to be able to visit and see such beauty with friends!!!
Be well, Liz!

Becky said...

The sunset is my favorite. Kinda looks like Florida. Beautiful country you have!

Anonymous said...

Liz, how lucky you are living with such beautiful things to see and paint. I really like the bird in oil that you painted. Sparrows here are not as colourful.

Becky Joy said...

I like the bird. It sounds like a very wonderful place to live.