A farm gate

W&N watercolour and ink sketch on Bockingford 300gsm

Farm gates and farm fences fascinate me. I can sit for hours sketching variations on the theme and just cannot drive by a farm gate or particularly interesting fence without stopping and sketching it. This is a  farm gate on a friend’s smallholding in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa).

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A blank page

W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm

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

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Sunrise over a winter landscape

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – 15″ × 11″ (38cm x 28cm)

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

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A Windpomp and a gate

 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

A familiar sight in South Africa – a windmill drawing the life blood from the earth.

Water availability has shaped life and society in many ways, with aridity shaping the landscape and soils and determining where we live, grow our crops, raise animals and build our cities. Without these wind pumps, farming, and life in general, would not be possible in the more arid parts of our country.

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Waiting for the rain

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

The fields are quiet, the lands are empty – oh, for the sound of rain!

Summer has hit with a vengeance - Spring was short-lived and after freezing temperatures, we went straight into 30℃ heat.

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Three cheers

Winter is still persisting but three cheers for rising temperatures this morning. A spring in my step and a smile on my face!

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No. 53

The 53rd sketch in my Moleskine 200gsm sketch-book - 8" x 5" (21cm x 12cm).

I just love these small Moleskine watercolour sketch-books. They have lovely 200gsm paper and are so easy to pack and are great for pencil, pen or watercolours.

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Balmy autumn days

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods, And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt."

- William Allingham

W&N watercolour in my Moleskine 200gsm Nature Journal

Balmy autumn days and the landscape is softly turning yellow, heralding that winter is close.

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A familiar South African sight

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm – ©Maree Clarkson 

A few centuries ago, farmers and the people of Southern Africa extensively used thorn trees or branches to safely house their cattle and protect their properties, but since the advent of Barbed wire fencing in the early 20th century, first erected by the English during the first South African Boer War to restrict the Boers to a certain area, it has become a very familiar sight in South Africa.

It is simple and cost effective to construct and quick to erect, even by an unskilled person. Barbed wire fencing requires only fence posts, wire, and fixing devices such as staples or nails. It serves as an effective barrier as any person or animal trying to pass through or over barbed wire will suffer discomfort and possibly injury.

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Unobstructed view

“The whole essence of good drawing – and of good thinking, perhaps – is to work a subject down to the simplest form possible and still have it believable for what it is meant to be.” 

— Chuck Jones 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gms

After the winter veld fires and now that we've had our first summer rains, the landscape is once again turning green and we have an unobstructed view towards the Magaliesberg Mountains in the distance.

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