Wednesday, July 21, 2021

And the tree asks, "Why am I here?"

Winsor&Newton watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

Every branch shaking, shifting, and falling in the icy wind,
A tiny leaf at the very end holds strong,
Why am I here, questioning wondering waiting, for that final pulse that will blow him down?
But in that tree was a force, a force of life, a force of strength, a force unmatched by the icy wind.
That tree was a young tree, a tree that never crossed roots with wild bushes,
Bore fruits desired by many, tasted by few and discarded by the very planter,
Questioning why am I here, questioning is this the only way,
Now the broken branch begins to fall, now this tree was not very tall,
No other tree was like this tree, this tree was special,
This tree was bearing the strain of an icy wind,
Just as the branch had hit the ground there was silence all around a calm in the drifting storm
Now this was rare, a tree this young, a tree this strange, a neglected tree, a tree with shallow roots, a tree with hollow bark had survived the storm.
Questioning why me?
This tree was a lonely tree,
this tree knew he would grow strong,
weak body strong thoughts kept the tree unmoved on broken paths.
Extract from “A tree” – Emmanuel Mohanlall

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.

A blank page (SOLD)


W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm 

a blank page . a new journal . what shall I do
dream / sing / write / wait / think / pause / garden / chat / paint
decided to paint

Forest path

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

A path leading through the Blue gum forest on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa). Walking this trail, I often discover little treasures like rabbits, hedgehogs, tortoises, lots of insects, little wild flowers and the odd snake. We’ve had many enquiries from people wanting to cut the bush down for the wood, but have always declined as many birds call this blue gum bush their home, a little sanctuary as the area gets more and more built up.

Dorper sheep


 
Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book 

My neighbour’s sheep – a while ago some ewes had lambs and it was the first time for MANY, MANY years that I actually held a little lamb in my arms again – oh my word! I’d forgotten how precious that can be! I wanted to take it home…!

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