The Red Bishop 2

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N watercolours on Visual 200gsm

My Red Bishops have just come into their breeding colours and some of the juveniles are a decidedly mottled lot! There's a lot of fighting and chattering going on, trying to establish dominance and vying for the best spots in the garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa).

This little chap obligingly sat for a session while I did a quick outline sketch and then hurriedly added some colour before he flitted off again on some serious business or another.

What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around!
- Georges Bernanos

Coffee with a conscience

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N watercolours on Visual 200gsm

The next time you're ordering your favourite morning cuppaccino, spare a thought for the planet. Here's why.

Most of us are aware of climate change, but don’t always understand its far-reaching effects. Woolworths set out to change this when it undertook an expedition to Kilimanjaro in January.

"Climate change is one of the four pillars of our Good Business Journey," explains Woolworths Good Business Journey manager, Justin Smith. "Global warming results in increasing average air and ocean temperatures, and melting snow and ice. In Africa, Kilimanjaro’s melting ice cap is one of the most visible indicators of global warming."

The aim of the expedition, which was led and filmed by respected guide Sean Wisedale, was to raise awareness of climate change and its effect on coffee farmers in Tanzania – the farmers who grow the organic coffee Woolworths sells in its cafés.

Smith explains: "Kilimanjaro's melting ice cap is directly threatening Tanzania's coffee farmers, who are reliant on the glacier melt for water. These organic farmers grow their coffee under the shady forest canopies on the slopes of the mountain, which means that once the ice disappears, there will be less water for their crops."

Climatologist and 50:50 presenter Simon Gear joined the expedition, along with South African Champion Barista, Ishan Natalie, and a team of passionate coffee and environmental enthusiasts. When the team reached the summit, they used water from the melting glacier to make a symbolic iced coffee drink.

The drink – minus the glacier water – was launched in Woolworths Cafés on 18 January 2011. It costs R16.
Taken from "Woolworths TasteMag"

A mystery wrapped in brown,
A fragile enigma,
Enveloping the senses,
With the earthy steam
Of a bean.
The mind wrapped in warmth,
The essence of dark roast,
Heating from within,
The senses thrill,
With every lingering
Sniff of the aroma
In the mug
- by Drew K.

Red-chested Cuckoo

A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.
~ Bret Harte

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N watercolours on Bockingford 300gsm

30th October 8.04 am and I've just heard the Piet-My-Vrou (Red-chested Cuckoo - Cuculus solitarius) for the first time this season! It's rather late, I normally hear them at the beginning of October, but it's as if they've waited for the first rains before being heard! (We had 20mm of rain last night and 15mm the night before, so the world around here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) is looking and smelling sparkling clean!) They're extremely shy and very hard to spot, but I managed to get a quick (not-so-good!) shot with my camera before he disappeared back into the thick foliage. Had to use my bird book to complete all the colours.

I have held most bird species in my hands at least once, but with the Red-chested Cuckoo I have not had that pleasure...

In Southern Africa, all cuckoos are migratory (the Klaas's and Emerald Cuckoos appear to be resident in the warmer east), arriving from Central or Eastern Africa at the start of the rainy season in late September and October. Upon arrival, the males establish territories and advertise their presence to females (and birdwatchers!) by calling incessantly, sometimes even after dark.

The Red-chested Cuckoo is mainly found in the eastern half of southern Africa, and is quite common in protected areas, living in a wide range of habitats. It feeds mostly on invertebrates, particularly hairy caterpillars but also grasshoppers and beetles, amongst others. It mostly parasitizes members of Muscicapidae (robins, thrushes, flycatchers, etc.), rushing into their nests, and removing the host's eggs before laying one of its own, all in just 5 seconds! Once the chick is 2 days old, it evicts the host's eggs and nestlings. It stays in the nest for 17-21 days, and is dependent on its host parents for 20-25 days more, before becoming fully independent. (Info from Wikipedia)

This Cuckoo occurs throughout Africa south of the Sahara, but avoids arid regions. In southern Africa it is common in eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and eastern and southern South Africa. It generally prefers Afro-montane forest, closed woodland, Miombo woodland, open savannah thickets, stands of trees in human settlements, mature gardens and parks.

Piet-my-vrou [Afrikaans]; Uphezukomkhono [Xhosa]; uPhezukomkhono [Zulu]; Mukuku (generic term for cuckoos and coucals) [Kwangali]; Tlo-nke-tsoho [South Sotho]; Phezukwemkhono [Swazi]; Ngwafalantala [Tsonga]; Heremietkoekoek [Dutch]; Coucou solitaire [French]; Einsiedlerkuckuck [German]; Cuco-de-peito-vermelho [Portuguese]

Jewels from Heaven

Inspired by Elizabeth Kendall's beautiful painting "Abundance", I also dedicate this to the Creator of trees!

Coffee and W&N watercolours on Visual 200gsm - no preliminary sketching

I took a walk down a woodland trail,
without really expecting anything new.
A rustling in the leaves made me pause,
and wonder what was hidden from view.
I kneeled down and spotted a tiny, white flower,
so perfectly formed to bloom for just an hour.
Thank you, Lord, for showing it to me alone,
such a secret I would never have known.
- Extract from a poem by Gina Hatchell

"Abundance" - Elizabeth Kendall

Burning Desire

“When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.”
- W. Clement Stone (American best selling Author - 1902-2002)

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

W&N Watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm Folio watercolour sketch-book - 12" x 8"

Sometimes my work is inspired by a sight or sound, sometimes by a few words. Here I was testing out how the colours flow on my new Moleskine sketch-book's paper and it turned into a bit of an abstract exercise. I very rarely do abstracts, even in acrylics or oils, but I might just try a few more!

Country Diary - From the Forest

I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence?
- James Thomson

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Ink, wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

This is the second in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.

A couple of months ago I collected some leaves and acorns from a friend's tree (unfortunately I don't have an Oak any more and I really miss him) and it's amazing how well they dry and stay preserved. I actually have them displayed on a wooden bowl and they absolutely last for ever. A bit difficult to dust! but well worth the effort!

Summer at last!

“See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... we need silence to be able to touch souls.”
- Mother Teresa

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm sketching paper - 12" x 8"

Summer at last on our Smallholding in Tarlton, South Africa! Remnants of Winter are still visible, but we've had our first summer rains and the Blue gums (Eucalyptus) are looking spectacular. They truly did this metamorphosis in complete silence - the one minute they were cold and spares-looking and the next they're dressed in their finest summer finery, offering food and protection for the birds once more.

For the white parts of the trunks, I did a few strokes with a candle. I used the ordinary Price's candles (the cheapies in the blue wrapping), but you can also use white birthday cake candles, which actually work very well seeing as they are smaller.

Country Diary - Buyers' Corner

“Art is not a thing; it is a way.”
- Elbert Hubbard

Ink and wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

I started a Country Diary a while ago, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life. This is my first entry and I'll be posting a couple of them here, and it was a nice break from my regular landscapes and sketching. I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to play again! This is one of my roosters, Artemis, and he actually makes quite a willing sketch subject, not minding standing quietly close-by as I sit and sketch in the garden.

I sometimes think I'd rather crow

And be a rooster than to roost

And be a crow. But I don't know.

A rooster he can roost also,

Which doesn't seem fair when crows can't crow.

Which may help some. But I don't know.

Crows should be glad of one thing, though;

Nobody thinks of eating crow,

While roosters they are good enough

For anyone unless they're tough.

There are lots of tough old roosters, though.

And anyway a crow can't crow,

So maybe roosters stand more show.

It looks that way. But I don't know.

~Unknown

Someone's life somewhere...

"Use your Imagination, not to scare yourself to death,
but to Inspire yourself to Live."
- Adele Brockman

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

A bit more on the sketching side - a farm road leading into someone's life on a smallholding. Here I used my Parker Fountain pen with black Quink ink and a colour wash.

An artist's biggest problem is how to find inspiration. Once you have a subject, a character, or a circumstance that fascinates you, it’s all anyone can do to keep you from rushing to the blank page and sketching away like mad.

One of the reasons for the elusive nature of inspiration is that we expect finding inspiration to be effortless. More than effortless – we expect it to be nearly magical. One day we’ll open the drapes and look out on the street and there, walking in front of us, will be the character around which our next great sketch will revolve.

Sure, sometimes inspiration happens unexpectedly, at just the right time and in just the right place. However, most of the time, artists have to go looking for it. And we have to have the skills to recognize where to find it.

Sketching more

MOST of the earth is beyond the walls of buildings, and is untouched in appearance by the art of the sculptor or the painter.

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!


Quick landscape sketch with my Parker Fountain Pen, black Quink ink and some colour added - done in my Moleskine Folio (A4) 200gsm Watercolour sketchbook

Sketching has always been one of my great passions, but of late I've been neglecting it in favour of doing mostly watercolours. I've decided to go back to basics and sketch a lot more. Sketching forces you to look in more detail, and ask yourself what you actually see. You’ll end up seeing a lot more than you would otherwise. There’s something about holding a pen or pencil in your hand that gets your creative juices flowing in a much different way than holding a brush. When you get used to sketching, the movements of your hand become much more fluid and it becomes really easy and natural. The more you practice, the better you will become at sketching.