These four new painting commissions have kept me really busy over the past 3 months.
Tag: Sheep
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An Assortment of Requests
Farm scene near Hopetown Garage composite, Burgersdorp Sandgrouse Sunset Zambezi Valley Buffalo -
Sheep Study Two
Here are a few more sheep sketches and paintings.
"I know you're there" sheep sketch. watercolour & ink on cartridge. A4 I have an enormous online library of quirky and entertaining photos of sheep taken over the years; and now that photography is digital, it is so easy to capture moods and attitudes at every available opportunity, without the costs of printing them all.
'Two Ewes & a Lamb'. 350 x 250 mm watercolour. There was a time when I spent far too much on frequent trips to the nearest Foto-First (200 kms away) in Bloemfontein.
'Ewe with twins, cold winter morning'. 325 x 240 mm. watercolour. But now, with the aid of a trusty printer, I am able to only print what I want to paint, at the moment when inspiration strikes.
"Ewe with twins sketch", watercolour and ink. 320 x 240 mm It was difficult to choose just 4, for this set, but I really must move on to some other subject matter now. I can’t imagine there are many of you out there who are so entranced by sheep as I am, so I promise to put sheep aside for the moment!
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Sheep study one. Resting against the workshop wall.
After browsing through all my files of sheep photographs, I was itching to paint sheep again. Even though there is a limited market for sheep in the art world, I am absolutely enchanted by them and all the painting possibilities. I would love to paint an entire series, but realistically it is probably not a good idea! However, since when were painters driven by good sense? So call me crazy, but here is the first.
'Sheep resting against the workshop wall'. Oil on canvas, 850 x 650 mm. In the long hot days of summer when a woolen winter coat is not really appropriate, these sheep find the wall of the workshop nice and cool for their midday siesta.
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A Pastoral Study of Winter Colours
Paardelaagte Farm Landscape. Watercolour 340 x 530 mm. On the 12th July we travelled to a neighbouring farm, Cyferfontein to buy mealies for feeding our sheep. There were some wonderful scenes around the farm that I photographed, and more on our way home along part of the Orange River as far as the farm Paardelaagte. I returned home fuelled with inspiration for painting a set of the beautiful scenery we encountered. I am not really sure if I am finished, as there are a couple more scenes that still tempt me; but I thought it an appropriate time to post these six pictures anyway.
Cyferfontein Farm Studies. Watercolour. 2 x 350 x 250 mm. While painting I listened to many wonderful sermons from a host of enlightened and eloquent preachers, and I am delighted to have access to their insights into Scripture, and the Holy Word of God. Many of the sermons are available to download free of charge. Here are a few of the links: R.C.Sproul, John MacArthur, David Pawson, Free Audio Sermons.
View of Kramberg from Aylesby. Watercolour. 350 x 500 mm. 
Cyferfontein Jerseys. Watercolour. 350 x 250 mm 
Winter Pasture. watercolour. 250 x 350 mm. -
Sheep May Safely Graze
Today I finished two paintings that brought to mind the beautiful Bach melody, ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’ , from his Cantata 208.
'Rain clouds over Bethulie.' Oil on canvas. 800 x 630 mm. If you haven’t heard it or can’t remember it, you will find many lovely versions on YouTube.
Our sheep here on Silvermere do not graze safely, unfortunately. Predators like jackals and lynx are a constant threat and an ever increasing problem that has driven many neighbouring farmers to change over to cattle ranching instead.
'A Shady Tree on a Hot Day.' Watercolour on Pastel Paper. 290 x 475 mm. How comforting it is for us to know that we have an all-powerful Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, who cares for us. He overcame Satan and rescued us when He died on the Cross, and rose again for our sake. No matter how we are tested and challenged, He is our everlasting Saviour and Protector;
11 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13 I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. 14 Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!”
-Ezekiel v 11–16. (NLT)
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The Lion, the Lamb, and the Exhibition.
The Exhibition in Port Elizabeth was our first in almost 2 years. It was a mere 3 days but the Lord blessed us with a successful show, and a trouble-free trip to PE and back with our overloaded old trailer. Also we have so many family and friends, new and old, to be thankful to for making it a wonderful weekend. Our son, John, also came from Johannesburg, to help us with the Exhibition. As we hadn’t Exhibited in PE since March 2006, it was wonderful to have so many of our old friends and patrons coming to visit us.
For those who haven’t seen our Exhibitions before, you may like to see the set of photos that we took, and for those that were there, thank you for making it so memorable!
John drawing. PE,Walmer Park Exhibition ’09 
Card stand and tables. PE,Walmer Park Exhibition 
4 corner rooms & 4 entrances made up the exhibition. Tables in the centre. 
View from the outside of the display, Centre Court, Walmer Park. 
John (husband) at one of the entrances,& the big Nguni painting that sold on the last day. 
Another outer corner view. Walmer Park Exhibition Sep ’09 
Travelling home ! 7 Sep ’09 After the painting of the roses in the last blog-post, there was little time to paint much before the big framing operation. John framed 22 new paintings for the Exhibition. However I did manage a couple of quick paintings,.. (more…)
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‘Frantic’, ‘Baby’ & Fragrant Roses (red & blue )
I had decided at the start of this Blog to avoid photos of family and friends, and stick to Illustration as the focus of my posts. But in the interests of introducing myself and my environment I decided to put up a few pictures.Here are my favourite sheep ( as we live on a sheep farm) and some of the fragrant roses from my garden.
“The best things in life are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life”. – Robert Louis Stevenson
Fragrant Roses, Red & Blue
