In April we took a short holiday to Hogsback to commemorate our 40th wedding anniversary. What a change it was compared to our dry and barren karoo. It is a wonderful jewel of forests and waterfalls and “fairies” ! It inspired these 2 forest scenes, and even a little Samango monkey sketch. We saw so many of them in the trees around Hogsback, and even in the village itself. We stayed at beautiful Nibelheim. Hogsback is an extraordinary place!!
Swallowtail Falls.
During John’s recent visit to the farm, we went out sketching on a few occasions. However, I was understandably distracted by my new grand-daughter, Chloë !
John spent more time on his plein-air studies, all of which they turned out really well. For those who can access our Facebook page, they can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/africanpainting?sk=wall
This post is about optimism and waiting on God’s perfect timing. The Israelites had to wait 40 years to enter the Promised Land, and I have had to wait many years, not so many by comparison , to capture on camera, warthogs running with their tails up. A friend once asked for a painting of warthogs running with their tails up, and I have failed to find any such suitable photographs. I do not like to paint from guesswork, being rather particular about anatomical accuracy. But ever since a family of warthogs have settled on Silvermere my chances have increased dramatically. Well, the wait has finally paid off. However as often happens, one seldom has the camera when sighting the warthogs. Earlier this year though, John Oliver(with camera) and his Dad were walking at Excelsior, the top part of our farm; when they saw the warthogs, and managed to capture them running off. These action photos though blurred, were then enhanced slightly thanks to Photoshop, and these two sketches were the result.
These sketches sparked my interest and two more paintings followed. (more…)
“swallows over stormberg spruit” sketched from my computer monitor
As a self-confessed addict of creative-Journal-keeping I begin this new adventure, in this new year of 2009, to share some of my life in this remote little corner of Africa. We are far from most places, but fortunately not the internet, and therefore not far from all the far flung readers out there who may share my interests and passions in life. So my hope is that you will join me on my visually orientated journey of exploration, and through my creative meanderings, get to enjoy it along with me.
For almost a year now, I have been visiting the sites of other creative bloggers, like Sparkletopia (the first one I found), and came to realize that it would be a great way for me to keep in touch with friends from all over the world.
The sketch above was the first that I painted direct from my Computer Monitor as you can see in the next image. This is not my normal painting table, but the computer table. For bigger paintings the monitor can be moved.
Over the years the high costs of printing photographs for painting, have prompted me to start painting directly from the monitor, and though I haven’t painted much in 2008; due to a death, a wedding & the writing of a book, the New Year holds great promise, and I invite you to visit my studio whenever you can.