Thursday, January 28, 2010

Africa's Wonder

"Let a Person Walk Alone With Few Wishes, Committing No Wrong, Like an Elephant in the Forest"


"Africa's Wonder - Elephant" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 12" x 9"

I sketched this young elephant at the Elephant Sanctuary Hartebeespoort Dam, where they provide a “halfway house” for young African elephants in need of a temporary home.

African elephants are bigger than Asian Elephants. Males stand 3.6 m (12 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 5,400 kg (12,000 lb), while females stand 3 m (9.8 ft) and weigh between 3,600 and 4,600 kg (7,900 and 10,000 lb). However, males can get as big as 6,800 kg (15,000 lb!).

Some interesting info :
Elephants have four molars; each weighs about 5 kg (11 lb) and measures about 30 cm (12 in) long. As the front pair wears down and drops out in pieces, the back pair shifts forward and two new molars emerge in the back of the mouth. Elephants replace their teeth six times. At about 40 to 60 years of age the elephant no longer has teeth and will likely die of starvation, a common cause of death.

ITEM ID : AfricaElephant1



Distant shores

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."
- Nietzsche

"Distant Shores" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©
SIZE " 11" x 7.5" 

A bit of imagination and blue gum trees become pines along the shores of one of our local dams.

ITEM ID : DistantShores




Early morning landscape - SOLD

"With each sunrise, we start anew"

"Early Morning Landscape" - watercolour on Moleskine 200gsm - Maree©
Size : 12" x 8" - unframed - SOLD

The sun rising gently behind our Blue Gum forest and, with some imagination, the fields are turned into a wonder-wetland.

This painting is one in a series of paintings done by painting directly onto the paper, no sketching done before-hand. Lately I have found that, unless I am doing something very detailed, like the feathers of a bird, I am eager to get the image onto paper or canvass and don't feel like restricting myself with pencil lines.


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Blue Gums & Black Wattles - Acrylic SOLD

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease,
avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods.
But he cannot save them from fools.
- John Muir

"Blue Gum and Black Wattle trees" Acrylic on Bockingford 300gsm watercolour paper - Maree©
SIZE : 11" x 7.5" - unframed - SOLD

In this painting I experimented with acrylics on a good, thick Bockingford watercolour paper and decided I just LOVE how the acrylics feel on the paper. It's amazing! I think I'm falling more and more in love with this versatile medium.

These trees are on our smallholding and although we are trying to get rid of all the Black Wattles, they spring up faster than you try to eradicate them. The problem is that they produce a huge amount of seeds, which can grow in the most arid and infertile of soils. Even worse, these seeds can live up to a 90 years. And after a first clean-up, even though you have removed hundreds of trees, millions of young seedling appear. It's basically fighting a losing battle. These evergreen trees were originally imported from Australia for our tanning industry.

Now the touchy subject: chemicals. One simply cannot get rid of Black Wattles unless you use a good herbicide. Cutting a black wattle and hoping it will die, is wishful thinking. We do not use any chemicals at all, with the result that we have an on-going battle, but which provides employment opportunities as we hire several casual workers every year to do another clean-up.

The spreading growing habit of the Black Wattle

The flowers of the Black Wattle also causes great outbreaks of hay fever among hay fever sufferers during spring.


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Monday, January 25, 2010

Sunset through the Blue Gums (SOLD)

"Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal."
- Elbert Hubbard

"Sunset through the Blue gums" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm
Size : 12" x 8.5"
- unframed SOLD

The smallholding across the road from us faces West and the setting sun made a spectacular show through the blue gum trees the other evening.

PRAYER OF THE WOODS
(A poem fastened to trees in the Portuguese forests for more than a 1,000 years)

Ye who pass by and would raise your hand against me,
listen to me before you harm me.

I am the heat of your heart on the cold winter nights,
The friendly shade screening you from summer sun,
And my fruits are refreshing draughts,
Quenching your thirst as you journey on.

I am the beam that holds your house,
The board of your table,
The bed on which you lie,
The timber that builds your boat.

I am the handle of your hoe,
The door of your homestead,
The wood of your cradle,
And the shell of your coffin.

I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.
Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer:

HARM ME NOT.

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Sunrise through the Blue Gums (SOLD)

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
- Martin Luther

"Sunrise through the Blue gums" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©
Size 9" x 12" - SOLD

The sun rising through our Blue gum forest on Sunday morning - the flowers are a wish for the New Year!


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Fine Feathers - SOLD

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."
- Aesop

"Fine Feathers" watercolour on Moleskine 200gsm watercolour paper - Maree©
Size : 12" x 8" - SOLD

This is my neighbour's prize bantam rooster, as far as I'm concerned, anyway. I took a photograph of him on a very windy day and he had a lot of trouble staying on his feet as the wind kept catching him from behind, sending him scurrying with fast little paces! This was painted using the photograph as reference.


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A Foray into bright colours! SOLD

"Thicket by thicket, wetland by wetland, we are losing the remaining wilderness and diversity of life. The greenbelt is stopping the loss of natural features and the species they host."
- Jim Bradley

"Wetland" - Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm
Size - 12" x 9" - Unframed

A foray into bright colours, showing my excitement - the Tarlton stream is flowing again! It was almost as wide as the road as it snaked its way towards the dam, dropping several meters as it flowed through the broken dam wall. We haven't seen this sight for many years, but the plentiful rains we've had must've caused it to break through the man-made obstructions further up-stream. In this view the stream is flowing from the top down towards the old dam.

ITEM ID : Wetland
(Sorry, this is SOLD)





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Gum Forest Series

"Gum Forest 1" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5" 

Here I've been experimenting with not doing any preliminary sketches before painting, just putting colour directly onto the paper and seeing what develops. The first one I did, above, where I had left some white pieces on the paper, turned out to look like a forest, so I pursued this theme in the other paintings, specifically leaving white patches to suggest the trees.

This is a fairly small series of 8 paintings, but once matted and framed, will make for a nice display. They can be hung in pairs, or groups of 4 - take your pick from 4 horizontal or 4 vertical, or choose a series in colours that are similar to display together Enjoy!

ITEM ID - GumForestSmall1

"Gum Forest 2" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5"

ITEM ID - GumForestSmall2


"Gum Forest 3" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5"

 ITEM ID : GumForestSmall3

"Gum Forest 4" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5"

ITEM ID : GumForestSmall4
"Gum Forest 5" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5" 

ITEM ID : GumForestSmall5

"Gum Forest 6" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5" 

ITEM ID : GumForestSmall6

"Gum Forest 7" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5"

ITEM ID : GummForestSmall7

"Gum Forest 8" watercolour on Bockingford watercolour paper 300gsm - Maree©
Size : 5.5" x 7.5"

ITEM ID : GumForestSmall8


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WELCOME!


Hi all and welcome,

I am Maree Clarkson and I am a watercolour artist living in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa. Welcome to my new blog - this is the place where I will show you what I do most of the time - paint! I am still in the process of developing this site, so be sure to pop in from time to time to see what is on offer.
Did you know that it makes great sense buying art on-line? You also save time and money buying art on-line.

In the days of the great Masters - men such as Rembrandt and Vermeer... art galleries didn't exist.

Instead, the artists of the day worked in their studios. Through word of mouth, their talents were spread far and wide... and from distant destinations, art collectors came to see the work and to purchase.

Now, in the 21st century, we've come a full circle in many ways.

Art galleries are no longer the only venue available to collectors of fine art.

More and more, artists around the globe are making use of online resources to take us back to the days of old; the days when artists could deal direct with clients.

The media is different. Word-of-mouth has been replaced by the internet. An artist's showroom is not only their studio. It's their Blog and Website.

But though these things have changed, the core benefit remains the same.

For the first time in many, many years, clients have unprecedented opportunities to deal directly with artists.

Buying art online give clients a wonderful opportunity to make contact with, and then build a relationship with their favourite artists.

There are no physical limitations.
With the flick of a switch, you can be viewing the work of an artist on the other side of the globe. It's a very exciting time for art collectors. And it's an opportunity that should not be passed up.

The Global Financial crisis has done wonders for the art world. The days of ridiculous high-end prices are gone. Common-sense has returned to the market. But even more importantly, a host of new and very talented artists have begun to emerge via the internet.
There are many thousands of artist Blogs and Websites on the net. They represent the new way of doing smart business.

Clients looking to purchase art are streaming onto the net. Through online art purchases, and by dealing directly with their favourite artist, it is possible to save huge amounts of money that might otherwise be paid in traditional gallery commissions.

The removal of the art gallery middle-man means greater value for purchasers, and a direct line of communication with the artist.

Be first to see new paintings
Many keen collectors subscribe to several artist blogs. My advice would be to subscribe to 5 artists at any one time. Not all artists will post new works daily. It depends on the creative process. Some days you may receive a couple of free email notifications. These will be artworks from your favourite artists... delivered to you as a service! From there you will easily be able to monitor the new work of each artist until you find the works you wish to purchase. You can see why buying art online, and dealing directly with your favourite artist has become the new way to invest in art!

Technology has facilitated the boom.
With the advent of secure online purchase facilities via companies such as FastPay (for South Africa), purchasers have unprecedented security to protect their purchases. The days of snail-mail and cheques have long gone. Now payment online takes place in a matter of moments. It's safe. It's secure. It's efficient.

I will also be posting some great hints and advice for buying art on-line from time to time, so I hope to see you here again! Also please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need some information on any artwork - I'd love to hear from you!

Any of the paintings listed here (and more!) are also for sale as prints : framed prints, canvas prints, matted prints, mounted prints, greeting cards, postcards, photogrpahic prints, t-shirts, iPhone covers and more. Please visit my RedBubble profile to view the products on offer. 

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

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