Our Visit to Kirstenbosch

At the end of our Summer, I took some photos whilst sitting at the exhibition at Kirstenbosch.  There was a group of pre-school and school children out for the day being shown the sites and sounds of our wonderful botanical gardens.

I posted one painting I did of three of the little ones sitting on the steps, and this is another one, this time of five of the youngsters resting their weary little bones after traipsing around the gardens.

I took me a long time to finish this.  I did a lot of scraping off and repositioning, but finally got it more or less where I wanted it.  Not 100% happy, but can't figure out what is lacking!  Any help out there?

Saundra's other Duck

Some time ago, Saundra Lane Galloway of Art for Life posted pictures on her blog for others to paint.

Saundra is incredibly generous with her beautiful pics, she loves life and takes all those hardships in her stride - something we could all learn to do.

I loved painting this.  Saundra's other Duck.  She has posted all sorts of ducks and I know there's another one somewhere in the pile waiting for me to get to it.  This was also done with the three colours of cad red, cad yellow and ult blue with white.  Having discovered a limited palette, I'm so enjoying it.

World Cup Fever

Couldn't resist this one!

As you know, the World Cup is in my neck of the woods.  And we are having a great time and I'm slowly being converted to becoming a soccer/football fan.  So watched Ghana lose to Uruguay on a penalty shootout (sob, sob), Germany thrash England and then this - another big upset.  The Netherlands beating Brazil!

This fan echoed it all.  Sketched in pastels (not my medium) quickly at the end of the game in my brand new Moleskine!

Man's Best Friend

I think my favourite subject to paint is still dogs.

I love dogs.  I love all animals, but especially dogs.  There is something so special and wholesome about them especially when treated properly.  Their inherent goodness comes through when you are good to them and even when badly treated, like the dogs at DARG, they are still so forgiving.  And I believe the same is true for an organisation in America, the Port Jervis/Deer Park Humane Society who sent an appeal through the Art for Shelter Animals blog for artists to paint portraits of their shelter animals to help raise funds. This link is to Sheila Tajima's blog, and Carrie Jacobson who also plays a major role.  Please have a look - maybe there's a face there that you'll want to paint.

I did a portrait of Cocoa - the chocolatey/reddy brown coat was a definite appeal, plus that gorgeous face!  Even Pit Bulls are special.  Ask Cocoa!

  

and some time ago, I did this small one for DARG.  This is Tammy who was abandoned by her owner, but fortunately has recently been adopted!  Bless you Tammy, enjoy your new home.

A Portrait of Amy

I think I am getting back to normal now with a new computer, no 'flu and school holidays.

The school holidays are nearly two months this year because of the World Cup (though why the two are connected, I don't know!), so I'm not teaching and there are no art groups.

I have, however, taken advantage of all the workshops that our society organises during the Winter months, and last Tuesday did an oil portrait workshop with one of our top portrait artists, Lesley Charnock.  For the first time I worked with just 3 colours and white - it was a revelation and something I realise I should have done 3 years ago when I first started painting.

Amy was a superb model and I think I caught her likeness quite nicely.  So here she is - in ultramarine, cad red, cad yellow and a bit of titanium white!

Birds of the Gulf

I honestly think that if I couldn't connect with the blogging art world, I would be lost.  And lost I was for over a week when my computer totally died.  Dead.  No more.  And with it went all my information; email addresses, pictures, photographs, documents - ja, well, no, fine!!

So a new pc has been purchased, new (updated!) programmes installed and I am now trying to find my way around them!  My gosh, but the latest Microsoft Office is complicated!

So dear friends, that is why I have been missing in action!  I now have a lot of catching up to do and will eventually get to read all those back posts that I've missed.

And because it's been quite cold here, plus the week at Kirstenbosch and the touch of 'flu, my painting has been curtailed.  The World Cup has also run interference - tonight England is playing here in Cape Town and the town is full of Barmy Army people.  Our own Bafana Bafana didn't do too well the other night and probably won't qualify, but we're enjoying having the world in our little corner of Africa.  Who are you supporting??

So, the last thing I painted during my 'down' time, was this heron and it is part of the tribute to the Gulf Crisis Challenge that Suzanne McDermott has started.  Read all about what she is doing on her blog.  She is a truly wonderful person who cares totally about the environment and what we are doing to it.  Bless you Suzanne.

Butterfly

I haven't been doing very much just lately - the 'flu did knock me sideways and now I'm sitting at the Members Exhibition at Kirstenbosch every day for this week.

So I've been seriously missing from blog commentaries, but, like Arnie, I will be back.

In the meantime, this was done for James Parker's Windows to the Words blog last month - butterflies - those beautiful insects that are disappearing fast because we insist on killing caterpillars!  Thank you James, for those lovely pics.  Am looking forward to this month's challenge.

Roxanne in Watercolour

A great big thank you to all of your for your get better messages!  I am much better, but missed the Important Rugby Game last week!  Oh well - watched it on television and we won!  So there is a semi-final today and I'm definitely going even though I have to climb up thirty thousand steps - ok, maybe not that many, but there are a lot.

And the last time I did a watercolour, dear Dean of Deano's Den, an artist I so admire, said I mustn't be so hard on myself.  So Dean, I am really quite proud of this one!  I did it in stages allowing it to actually dry, and I think my patience paid off.  Her name is Roxanne and she's the granddaughter of a painting friend of mine.  All that gorgeous wavy red hair!  Hope you like it.

Swallow Tailed Bee Eater

Birds again.

I did this last week while I was still 'alive'.  At the moment I'm half dead with the dreaded winter 'flu!  Serves me right for always opening my mouth and saying 'I never get sick!!'  Cough, cough, splutter, splutter, not fun.  Must get better by tomorrow as there's a really Important Rugby Game on!

But back to birds.  This is a Swallow Tailed Bee Eater which is indigenous to my part of the world, although you don't see them in the Cape.  Another of John Kennekam's beautiful photos - thank you John, I loved the colours and the 'evil eye' the bird gives you.

The G&T Ladies

It was still in Velddrif for this one. 

Barbara and Jinty, two fellow artists, came along as well.  Two wonderful women originally from England, they were pottering around discussing the various garden plants that don't do too well in the salty, hot, dry atmosphere of Velddrif.  It was almost as if they were posing for this pic it was just so perfect!    I've tried to do them justice and I've achieved quite a good likeness.

The reason for the title?  Wherever South Africans go, they usually take a bottle or two of wine with them - Capetonians usually have the red variety on hand in the evenings, but the two of them had to have their evening gin and tonics before supper!  Very Colonial!

Bokkom Lane Pelicans

I love my new digital camera!

When we went up the West Coast last month to Velddrif, I took picture after picture after picture!  It's quick and easy, not like my old one which seemed to take an age between photos and then run out of battery before I could get into my stride. 

So while we were ambling around Bokkom Lane in Velddrif, I was happy snapping this group of pelicans.  They suddenly seemed to take off down river to inspect something, and this painting comes from after their inspection, before returning to point A.

A Big Beady-Eyed Bird

Another bird - this time one of Saundra Lane Galloway's ones from her visit to her local zoo.  You can see all her animals from her Surprise Day at the Zoo, here.

This I did in watercolour,  a medium that I still battle with.  Only one in 4 or 5 of my attempts at watercolour am I satisfied with.  Note the word satisfied - not thrilled, over-the-moon or ecstatic about, just satisfied.

This Winter we have a number of workshops arranged and I am determined to take at least one on learning to use watercolours.  I wish I could visit all those wonderful watercolourists in India and the USA for lessons, but no can do, so have to find someone from our local awesomely talented artists.

In the meantime, meet the Beady Eyed Crane!

Kirstenbosch Visitors

Whilst on duty at Kirstenbosch during the Merit Exhibition, a group of pre-schoolers came for an outing through the gardens.  

This is a regular occurrence during the week with all sorts of school groups coming through to learn about the gardens, how they are run, and more importantly, to respect the natural order of nature and not to just pick and destroy.

This little group was part of a very much larger group who gathered together on the stone steps waiting for instructions and direction from their teachers.  They were also the cause of much photographing by the adults, including me, as they presented such a cute picture.  I am hoping to do a few more of the kids as they sat on the steps, but this is the first.

and a close up of the three

I have also been given another award - Martine Alison who does the most amazing paintings, writes in French, a language I have had no connection with, and consequently have to rely on Google translate to understand fully what she says.  She is a lovely lady who never fails to leave a comment on my blog.  Martine, bless you, and thank you.

A Swallow

I've decided I like painting birds and am going full steam ahead (well, full steam in between everything else), and putting together some good old South African birds.

This is a Swallow.  He lives somewhere around here because the picture was taken in the Paarl area just outside Cape Town by fantastic photographer John Kennekam.  John has kindly given me permission to paint some of his birds and boy, does he have a lot to choose from.

Hope you like this little fella even though I picked up a bit of glare on the blue!

Maree, who is totally knowledgeable about these things, has pointed out that this is a Swallow, not a Sparrow!  Oops!  Thank you Maree, I just know he is a really pretty bird!

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.

Storm Brewing

Well, 10 days away and I've just spent the entire morning going through so many of the blogs I've missed whilst sitting at the exhibition.  If I haven't left a comment, I'm still getting there.  So, still no painting yet.  Or maybe I'm just putting it off - no I will definitely be going into my studio this afternoon, or at the latest, tomorrow morning.  This afternoon I may just have to watch cricket and rugby - it is, after all, Saturday!

So now I'm being brave and posting a painting that I did on a course I did in February.  This canvas is BIG (for me) being 40" x 30"!  It was done in acrylics and I find that I don't like acrylics anymore - they dry too fast, especially in the heat.  I did like the size though, but in the end, hated the painting. 

I was the only one who hated it - oh my sister didn't like it either.  Everyone else in the class thought it was amazing, but I don't know whether they were just being kind.

Anyway, because I haven't done a thing for 10 days, I thought I would let you have a look at what I call "A Red Mess" but actually has been titled Storm Brewing.

(What about 'Picnic Time for Red Teddy Bears' ??)

Friends

Just before Christmas our outdoor group was painting at the eco village of Oude Molen. 

While we were there, a group of youngsters from the next door area came by to exercise the horses.  They run down to the river with them and then walk back and allow them to browse until they go back to their holding area.

These horses belong to the children of wealthier Capetonions and locating them at Oude Molen provides income for the locals and the village itself.

I took this pic as they walked past my painting spot and have wanted to paint it for some time.  Now that I finally have, I'm not that happy with it.  I think I spent too long a time on it and tried to get it 'perfect' thereby losing the looseness that I so desperately want.  Photographing it was also not the easiest.

Anyway, here it is - I've called it Friends.

I'm going the apologise to all the wonderful bloggers I visit regularly.  I've been absent and will be a bit busy for the next 7 days as I've got the job as 'Official Sitter' at the current South African Society of Artists exhibition at Kirstenbosch.  Despite not having qualified for this exhibition, it's a job I enjoy doing as you get to see all that great art and meet many wonderful artists and art lovers.  But I'll be back on my computer in bits and pieces during the period.  Then I will have to paint again so I have something to post!

A Palette Knife Bluebird

I was totally bowled over by the response to my American Robin and all your comments have inspired me to try my hand at some more birds!  I'm just a bit scared that I won't live up to the Robin and be a total disappointment.

So, instead of posting a brush painting of a bird, I did it with a palette knife. 

First time working an entire painting with a palette knife.  Our Friday group decided it was palette knife day and we were shown the nitty gritty by artist Heather Selby who paints with us.  I must say that I did enjoy it, but I think I'm really a brush painter.  It's kind of nice finding out where your interests lie by constantly trying new things!

So, this is my Eastern Bluebird, also from the USA and from James Parker's Windows to the Word blog.

(This is taking a heck of a long time to dry!!)

An American Robin

Wonderful James Parker has done it again.  Given us a choice of some wonderful pictures to paint - this time of birds.

And already he's had a stack of paintings to post on his blog, Windows to the Words.

This is my contribution.  The American Robin, which looks totally different to our smaller Cape Robin and very different to the English Robin that I saw many years ago.

Zoë

This is my friend Wendy's daughter, Zoë.

What an absolute delight to paint this picture of her.  She was so unaware of the camera, concentrating on what someone else was saying - I always think that these are the best photos to paint. 

Zoë is about 6 months younger than my grandson and an absolute delight.  Highly intelligent and so quick - a typical Leo!  This painting of her is a gift to her Mom.

 

It's been so hot here that my art room has turned into a sauna!  Hence the week gap between posts.

In one of my previous posts, I put up a charcoal sketch of a horse skull.  Wonderful artist Carol Horzempa left a lovely comment on my blog saying that it reminded her of Georgia O'Keeffe.  Strange, I thought.  Then the next Friday, the skull's owner, Barbara, brought in a photostat copy of the Georgia O'Keeffe painting and it was almost exactly the same!  It was the first time I'd seen the painting - luckily Barbara's skull was a bit battered and bent so you can see the differences.  Just to prove that there was no copyright infringement, here is another sketch, done from a different angle, of the skull.