Fifty shades of brown

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm. Using various shades of brown mixed from a variety of colours on my palette. 

It is very satisfying placing colour randomly and watching something emerge. Whether it makes sense or not is irrelevant--it's the journey that counts. Sometimes just a few strokes are required, and sometimes intense fiddling is necessary and unstoppable. Whichever route you take, enjoy the journey, enjoy the fulfilment and never, ever stress over the outcome. Whichever way it goes, you're in control, it's your choice -- whether it is ever seen or discarded.

Namasté

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The road West

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm with a couple of ink scribbles

Taking the road West from us and going from Rustenburg towards Botswana, the landscape suddenly changes from bushveld to a somewhat dry and arid landscape, especially in winter, when everything turns to lovely yellow and brown hues.

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I watched the tide go out

W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

As the sun sank lower and lower, I watched the tide go out... further and further.

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Hartebeespoort Dam in NorthWest

 

Winsor & Newton watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A view of Hartebeespoort Dam (NorthWest Province, South Africa) with the Magaliesberg Mountains in the back-ground.

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A gate in the Karoo

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

 

Many visitors to Karoo National Park in South Africa access the Park by car as this allows them the freedom to explore the park at their own leisure. Instead of heading to your destination on the main tar roads, try something different – like a drive along the gravel. But be warned – I hear there are many gates to open en route! I’ve never been to the Karoo and if I had a bucket list, a visit there would be on it!

The Park is a convenient stopover on the N1 route between Cape Town and the interior of the country. Cape Town is situated about 500km south of the Park. Johannesburg is situated about 1 000km north of the Park.

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Plant and care for trees

It's the end of another year and even after living here at the coast (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) for the past 3 years, I'm still longing for my Highveld trees. Blue gums, Black Wattles, Cussonia, Celtis, Karee, Jacaranda and even the Syringa -- none of which can be seen along the coast. But they are etched deep into my memory and I will be digging deep every now and then when the longing gets very strong.

"Plant and care for Trees" - W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Trees combat climate change. Trees clean the air. Trees provide oxygen. Trees help prevent water pollution. Trees provide a canopy and habitat for wildlife. Trees help prevent soil erosion.

How many more reasons do you need?

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A happy ending

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off, then encourage them to try again next year.”

 

 

A farm fence

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

I'm absolutely besotted with farm fences and gates and just cannot drive past without stopping to take a photograph or a quick sketch. There's something about a fence that says, "This is the boundary, please don't pass" and an open gate is always an invitation to drive through and see what's on the other side!

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Magaliesberg cliffs

Acrylic painting on gessoed un-stretched canvas sheet
Dedicated to all mountain-lovers!

A view of the Magaliesberg cliffs (NorthWest Province, South Africa), one of the few places where the White-backed Vulture still roams freely.

The Magaliesberg are among the oldest mountains in the world, almost 100 times older than Everest. They stretch for 120km from Bronkhorstspruit Dam east of Pretoria to Rustenburg in the west and separate the highveld grasslands to the south from the bushveld savannah in the north.

Sheer quartzite cliffs face south, overlooking a wide valley and a smaller ridge similar in shape and structure to the Magaliesberg.

Tarlton Landscape

 

Acrylic on Giverny 240gsm canvas – a beautiful summer’s day – done on location in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa

Not far from us a friend has a dam on his smallholding. When we visited, it gave me a chance to try my hand at some Acrylics, no sketching beforehand.

Plant for the Planet

W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm (135lb) Smooth heavy-weight sketching paper, from my imagination, no preliminary sketching.

“One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people.”
—U.S. Department of Agriculture

Plant for the planet, plant for the people. Planting trees is a simple way to protect and support the local environment, agriculture, water supplies, community development and health, as well as the world’s climate.

A cool Sunday morning outing...

A scene near Magaliesburg, Gauteng, South Africa - Ink sketch and W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketch-book

Sunday morning dawned with clear skies and lovely cool weather, so hubby and I decided to take the MGB Midget roadster out for a run to Magaliesburg and have breakfast at our favourite countryside tea garden. A 20-minute drive with hair blowing in the wind and we arrived, chose a table in the shade and I ordered my favourite, Mince and Cheese Jaffel with salad. By the time we finished eating and lingered, chatting for a while, temperatures were soaring in the early 30℃! The drive home was hot and bothersome and I wished I had taken a hat!

Bloekomdraai

W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm sketchbook

A scene a couple of kilometers from where I live - a gravel road through Tarlton (South Africa) on the way to Randfontein. It's a short-cut we often take past all the veggie and flower farms, the rubbish dump where all the Seagulls (600km from the coast!) gather and where tall Blue gum trees flank the road. This section of the road is known as Bloekomdraai. Here you will find many old farmsteads dating back to the 1800's and early 1900's, but unfortunately most of these have fallen into disrepair and neglect and are more and more making way for more modern and comfortable homes.

There is also a vlei (marsh) area here that extends for many kilometers all the way to Tarlton and the hills fairly sing with the sound of birds and waterfowl. I presume this was the original feed for the Tarlton Dam, which is now empty, broken and no longer in existence, although the water still flows down the course during heavy periods of rain.

Sketching again

Black ink sketch and colour wash on Amedeo 200gsm

I feel it's time for sketching again, have been neglecting it of late, been preferring just putting colour straight to paper.

Black ink sketch in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketchbook

Black ink sketch in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour sketchbook

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The dark forest

 

W&N watercolour in a small sketch-book with Bockingford 300gsm watercolour paper

A different depiction of the blue gum bush on our smallholding (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Woods creaked, the sounds of the forest was heard
A hoot and whisper’s in the darkness
Eyes lurking, bushes moving
Hunting beasts wandering,
crouching,
waiting in the shadows…

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The road to a friend

 W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

The road I take to visit a friend in Hillside (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

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En route to Magaliesburg

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Whenever I go to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa) just 13km from us, I choose to take a short-cut through Spring Farm and although it is a gravel road, I do away with lots of traffic and getting stuck behind trucks on their way to Rustenburg or Botswana and, to top it all, I see lots of wildlife. It’s a route we used to take with the horses during my horse riding days.

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Visiting a friend

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

The driveway to a friend’s house on their smallholding in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa. Always a pleasure to visit as, besides her bubbling personality! the driveway is lined with gorgeous big Oaks and other trees.

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Solly's chickens on our smallholding

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Solly's chickens having a snack close to his living quarters on our smallholding. The Bluegum bush at the back is where I often walk to sketch.

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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.

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