Showing posts with label watercolour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watercolour. Show all posts

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Another windpomp and a dam

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A ‘windpomp’ (windmill) in Magaliesburg. They are such a part of our countryside here in South Africa and they play a specially important part in dry areas like the Karoo where both humans and animals are very dependent on them for water. 

These windmills extract the life blood of the earth and it is usually poured into a cement dam close-by the windpomp. Many farm children swim in these cement dams on sweltering days and I have seen flocks of Egyptian Geese taking a quick, cool dip on their way to somewhere.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Enjoying summer

 W&N watercolour on Bockingfo9rd 300gsm 

At this time of year I really enjoy the silhouettes of the trees and hedges against the summer sky.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Bluegum view

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

The Tarlton landscape (Gauteng, South Africa) is dominated by eucalyptus trees, which were originally brought here from Australia for the mining industry. A third of our smallholding is covered in an old blue gum plantation and provided me with an endless supply of sketching matter. This is the view from just outside our property fence.

Autumn colours (SOLD)


Autumn is in the air  - W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

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The Poppy

 W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm  

High on a bright and sunny bed
A scarlet poppy grew
And up it held its staring head,
And thrust it full in view.
Yet no attention did it win,
By all these efforts made,
And less unwelcome had it been
In some retired shade.
Although within its scarlet breast
No sweet perfume was found,
It seemed to think itself the best
Of all the flowers round,
From this I may a hint obtain
And take great care indeed,
Lest I appear as pert and vain
As does this gaudy weed.
~ By Jane Taylor

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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Gum leaves - Botanical illustration

W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm 

Bluegum leaves (Eucalyptus)
Dedicated to all Eucalypt and Bee-lovers!

A recent study by the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) in South Africa has found that gum trees provide nectar and pollen for swarms of commercial bees – and bees in turn pollinate about 50 food crops in the country. This “service” bees provide is worth about R10.3 billion a year.

Gum trees are not only important food for bees, but so are many roadside wildflowers, crops, suburban flowering plants and those that many regard as weeds. A major reason for the decline of honey bees around the world is a lack of good forage plants to provide nectar, which is the carbohydrate in the bees’ diet, and pollen the protein. Bees collect nectar from Blue Gum tree blossoms from spring to late summer.

A lack of good quality and variety of forage plants can lead to unhealthy honey bee colonies that are more vulnerable to pests and diseases.

This in turn can lead to insufficient pollination of our important agricultural crop flowers, leading to a decreased yield or quality of the food crop, Insect pollinators are needed for 35 percent of all food production globally – or one of every three bites you eat.

Although most Bluegums have been declared as an invasive species in South Africa, Beekeepers are highly dependent on eucalyptus and if they are all removed because they are aliens it would mean a serious shortage of food for bees – with a knock-on effect on crop pollination.

Because of this, the Department of Environmental Affairs’ legislation on alien and invasive species, updated in 2014, is “nuanced” for eucalyptus trees, not requiring all of them to come under the axe or chainsaw.

ITEM ID : GumLeavesBotanical


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Sunrise over a winter landscape


 
W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Winter here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) means a late sunrise, often accompanied by clouds, which usually clear up as the day progresses.

“Nature is painting for us,
day after day,
pictures of infinite beauty
if only we have the eyes to see them.”
— John Ruskin

Friday, January 2, 2015

Bend in the road


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A typical gravel road in the South African bushveld.

When you come to a bend in the road, aren’t you just a little bit curious as to what lies just around the corner…?

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A farmer's cottage


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A farmer’s cottage on a smallholding not far from us.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

A labourer's cottage


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A labourer’s cottage on a smallholding just down the road from us in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Autumn Sunset - 1 and 2

Autumn Sunset 1 - W&N Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Today is the last opportunity 
I have to live intensely, 
as no one can assure me
that I will see tomorrow’s Autumn.
.
Autumn Sunset 2 - W&N Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Thoughts

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Thoughts drifting through my mind as I wend my way up the path towards the gate…

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Hard to believe



W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Winter on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

It’s hard to believe that in a few weeks’ time the grass on our smallholding will be green and these trees once again thick with foliage…

Monday, August 19, 2013

Light and shadow

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 8" x 12" unframed

::
:: light and shadow reveal a silent presence on a kitchen counter ::

Item ID : LightAndShadow

Price: R350.00 postage included


Friday, August 16, 2013

Lavender (Lavendula augustifolia)

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 8" x 12" unframed 

I used to have huge bushes of lavender in my garden, my favourite being the English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia (formerly L. officinalis), as it is a strongly aromatic shrub growing to 1–2m tall, the leaves are evergreen, and the flowers are a pinkish-purple (lavender-coloured), produced on spikes 2–8 cm long at the top of slender, leafless stems 10–30 cm long, and they make wonderful little displays in narrow vases or as dried bunches. The name is misleading, as it is not native to England at all, but native to the western Mediterranean region.

Lavender, sweet lavender; 
come and buy my lavender, 
hide it in your trousseau, lady fair. 
Let its lovely fragrance flow 
Over you from head to toe, 
lighting on your eyes, your cheek, your hair." 
- Cumberkand Clark Flower Song Book 1929

Item ID : LavenderLavendulaAugustifolia

Price : R350.00 including postage


Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Perfect Red


Dahlia - graphite sketch and watercolour in Moleskine sketch-book - Maree© (Not for sale)

The ancient Chinese told the story of a potter who spent his life searching for the perfect shade of red. He filled all his days learning new technologies and experimenting with new techniques to perfect the crimson glaze his heart desired.

Nothing worked.

 He travelled throughout the country and consulted with other potters. None of them could help him.

Finally he came home, sat by his kiln, and was so frustrated he threw himself in.

His assistant couldn't find him, although he called and called to him.

Eventually when the kiln cooled down, the assistant pulled out the pots that had been fired. They were the perfect shade of red.

The potter, himself, was the very thing he had been searching for.


::

Friday, August 9, 2013

Lavender in a Pot

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 8" x 12" - unframed 

Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) is such a romantic flower that every gardener sooner or later succumbs to the urge to grow it. The fact that it is a native of the Mediterranean and a lover of dry, sunny, rocky habitats makes it a perfect specimen for our hot Highveld climate (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa). It even manages our frosty winters quite well, probably because it is our dry season with not much rain. Lavender doesn’t like to be cold AND wet.

I have taken a couple of cuttings from a plant growing in my garden to try it in a pot, which I can put in a full sun position. I did this sketch from my imagination to try and “see” what it will look like and I’ve convinced myself!

Item ID : LavenderInAPot

Price : R350.00 including postage 


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Listen to the Guinea Fowl

 WN watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper 
12" x 8" - unframed

Be grateful for nature. Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the Guinea fowl. And don’t hate anybody.

The Helmeted Guinea Fowl is an African family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resembling partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. They are the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free pest control and if your garden is already established and can withstand the scratching, you’ll have a healthy and pest-free garden. And be rewarded with some wonderful antics from these lovely birds.

It is interesting to note that they are monogamous, mating for life. Read more

ITEM ID : ListenToTheGuineafowl
PRICE - R350.00
including postagein South Africa







Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Way of the Crow


W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - unframed
Black Crow (Corvus capensis) 

“If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.”
-Rev. Henry Ward Beecher mid 1800’s

There is little wonder that crows are very often the subjects of legends, folk-tales, and storytelling traditions around the world, all of which is very deep-seated and arising from myth and folklore thousands of years old. Anyone that has ever spent time with a crow will know how absurd these myths are and that Crows are no more ‘evil’ or ‘dark’ as depicted in these legends than a canary in a cage.

Read more HERE.

ITEM ID : WayOftheCrow

PRICE - R350.00 including postage


Life Force


Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – 12″ × 8″ - unframed

In this painting I tried to depict the fires that rage over our country-side every winter here in South Africa, destroying as it goes, but also giving life, cleaning up the landscape and allowing some flowers, that are dependant on the seasonal fires, to bloom.

• Energy is the life force that is present in all good art. This is not something that is easily defined, but it is the opposite state of static flatness. It is this energy that makes a painting speak to you, and makes an artist’s work original and identifiable as the work of that artist. Energy is created out of the artist’s materials and tools, but the end is more than the means in the same sense that a musical composition is so much more than a collection of notes.

Colour, shape, line and texture are the physical elements that combine to make up an image. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in depiction of imagery in art. This departure from accurate representation can be only slight, or it can be partial, or it can be complete. Abstraction exists along a continuum. Even art that aims for verisimilitude of the highest degree can be said to be abstract, at least theoretically, since perfect representation is likely to be exceedingly elusive. Artwork which takes liberties, altering for instance colour and form in ways that are conspicuous, can be said to be partially abstract. Total abstraction bears no trace of any reference to anything recognizable.

ITEM ID : LifeForce

PRICE - R350.00 including postage


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