Kei-apple Botanical - and a Chameleon

Ink sketch and watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – Kei Apple tree and a Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleonidae – Chameleo dilepis) 

Kei-apple, Dovyalis caffra, is well known all over the eastern parts South Africa, common in open bush and wooded grassland, and often near termite mounds. It belongs to a cosmopolitan family, the Flacourtiaceae, which are all good, fruit-bearing shrubs or trees, very often armed with vicious spines, and its name derives from the Kei River where it grows in abundance as a thick, shiny, spiny shrub up to three metres in height. The branches are armed with straight, robust spines up to 7 cm long.

Fresh, ripe fruits are rich in Vitamin C and pectin and, following the example of the Pedi people who squeeze the juice onto their pap (porridge), they make an excellent addition to a fruit salad and to muesli and yoghurt. Nature seems to know best when to give us the right foods to boost our immune systems in preparation for the onslaught of winter colds and ‘flu.

Last year my trees also bore an abundance of fruit for the first time ever and I ascribe this to the fact that we get heavy frost here in Tarlton (South Africa). It has taken almost seven years for my trees to reach just over three meters tall and I was absolutely thrilled to have the fruit. Of course I had to try them but they really are too acidic, with a slight hint of sweetness, to enjoy on a full-time basis. And I’m therefore also not surprised at all that Torti, my Leopard Tortoise, did not touch any that had fallen on the floor. But they look really beautiful displayed in a dish!

The Chameleon is wishful thinking - I haven't seen one in my garden for over ten years!

Artemis and the girls

Ink sketch and W&N watercolours on a coffee back-ground – Nescafé instant, black and very strong! – Bockingford 300gsm 

As I sat on the lawn one morning, enjoying our gorgeous Autumn weather, I decided to do a quick sketch of Artemis keeping a watchful eye on the girls as they scratched for titbits on the lawn. As long as they are happy, he won’t move, so he makes a perfect subject!

Believe in yourself

I learned that it’s completely fine to try and fail, to put yourself out there and not be perfect, to create something and have people judge you.

If I could give one tip for people - it's not an exercise or nutrition regimen. It's to walk your talk and believe in yourself, because at the end of the day, the dumbbell and diet don't get you in shape. It's your accountability to your word.
- Brett Hoebel

The urge to sketch and paint

I've been churning out a lot of small sketches and paintings lately, the urge for the brush was greater than trying to plan something big and wonderful! Smile!

Daisies singing in the rain - small watercolour on note paper 4.5" x 6"

Winter fires - small watercolour on note paper 6" x 4.5"

Hibiscus beauty - Black ink sketch and watercolour on small sketch pad 6" x 4.5"

Arum lilies - small ink sketch and watercolour on sketch pad 6" x 3.5"

 Herbs in pots - small ink sketch on sketch pad 6" x 4.5"

Bound for Freedom - Black ink sketch on note paper 6" x 4.5" (of a Black Crow (Corvus capensis), indigenous to South Africa
Afrikaans : Swartkraai

 Cheerful Gerbara Daisy - Ink sketch and watercolour on small 4.5" x 6" Bockingford watercolour paper

The Crow's Song - Black ink sketch of a black Crow (Corvus capensis) on 6" x 4.5" note paper

Whispers in the trees - Ink sketch and watercolour on Bockingford 200gsm sketch paper 4.5" x 6"

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Gemsbuck in the shadows

W&N watercolour in hand-made sketchbook with satin-finish linen paper. 

Gemsbuck (Oryx gazella) under a lone tree in the Kalahari (South Africa). Done from my imagination.

I’ve got this little hand-made sketchbook with a satin-finish linen paper and I can sit for hours churning out these little 7″ × 4″ (17cm x 10cm) watercolour sketches. I find it totally calming and it also satisfies my need to fiddle! This paper is very unforgiving, can’t take pencil marks, so you can’t do any preliminary drawing and also no erasing. The paper (or linen) virtually disintegrates under an eraser. Once you put colour to paper, that’s it! But it does allow for a lovely flow of the paint, which I enjoy immensely as I never know exactly what I’m going to end up with.