Autumn splendour

“I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air”, said Nathaniel Hawthorne. How well he expresses my sentiments!

 

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

I just can't get enough of Autumn at the moment! It's the loveliest season of them all and the perfect time to be spending outdoors! Until winter hits us in early June I will be making the most of this perfect weather.

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Winter Setting in

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.”
- Anton Chekhov

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


Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8"

Although the lawn in my garden is still thick and green from all the rain we've had, the veld and roadside is starting to show the effects of Winter - all the Cosmos is gone and the tall thatching grass is yellow and dry, just waiting for the first careless cigarette to be flicked out of a car window - this Black Wattle tree still hadn't recovered from the ravages of last year's fires and got a second dose when the property owner did his fire-break this week. Pity, but fire-breaks are a necessary evil if we are going to be protecting our properties from these, sometimes dangerous, fires.

From my portfolio of Landscapes on redBubble

Winter moving in

Brew me a cup for a winter's night.
For the wind howls loud and the furies fight;
Spice it with love and stir it with care,
And I'll toast our bright eyes,
my sweetheart fair.
~Minna Thomas Antrim


Acrylics on canvas panel 12" x 9"

I've been experimenting a bit more with Acrylics these days, trying to break away from that "watercolour" look I'm still getting with my acrylics, and as the old adage goes, "A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!"

South Africa is famous for its sunshine. It's a relatively dry country, with an average annual rainfall of about 464mm (compared to a world average of about 860mm). While the Western Cape gets most of its rainfall in winter, the rest of the country is generally a summer-rainfall region.

The Western Cape gets most of its rain in winter, with quite a few days of cloudy, rainy weather. However, these are always interspersed with wonderful days to rival the best of a British summer. The high mountains of the Cape and the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal usually get snow in winter.

Winter in South Africa (May to July) is characterised in the higher-lying areas of the interior plateau by dry, sunny, crisp days and cold nights. So it's a good idea to bring warm clothes.
The hot, humid KwaZulu-Natal coast, as well as the Lowveld (lower-lying areas) of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, offer fantastic winter weather with sunny, warmish days and virtually no wind or rain.

A subtropical location, moderated by ocean on three sides of the country and the altitude of the interior plateau, account for the warm temperate conditions so typical of South Africa - and so popular with its foreign visitors.

At the same time, temperatures in South Africa tend to be lower than in other countries at similar latitudes - such as Australia - due mainly to greater elevation above sea level.

On the interior plateau the altitude - Johannesburg lies at 1 694 meters - keeps the average summer temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius. In winter, for the same reason, night-time temperatures can drop to freezing point, in some places lower.

South Africa's coastal regions are therefore warmest in winter. There is, however, a striking contrast between temperatures on the country's east and west coasts, due respectively to the warm Agulhas and cold Benguela Currents that sweep the coastlines.

Being in the southern hemisphere, our seasons stand in opposition to those of Europe and North America, so, yes - we spend Christmas on the beach!
From South Africa Travel Info

From my portfolios of Landscapes with Water and Acrylic Paintings on RedBubble

The 4 Seasons - Spring

Awake, thou wintry earth -

Fling off thy sadness!

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness!

~Thomas Blackburn

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


Spring in Tarlton - watercolour on Ashrad hot pressed paper- 8" x 6" - Maree©

This outcrop of age-old Pelindaba rock is about 3 kilometers from us in a shallow little ravine that we used to often pass by on our outrides with our horses. Last weekend we took the little track as a short-cut to visit some friends in Hillside and I was reminded of the weird formations of these rocks that are like the tip of the iceberg - 99% of it is under-ground.

The presence of these spongy rocks indicates a high level of under-ground water in the area and is extensively found in Tarlton. These rocks also attract lightning and Tarlton is well renowned for the heavy electric storms it suffers.

This is one of a series "The 4 Seasons" - Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer.

The 4 Seasons - Winter

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”
- Yoko Ono

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


Winter at Harties - watercolour on Ashrad hot pressed paper - 8" x 6" - Maree©

Winter in Gauteng or the North-West Province is always one of stark contrasts - black against green and brown, mixed with bright yellow grass and purple shadows on the mountains. Bright blue or grey skies offers a different take on each day and our bright sunshine on a winter's day can lift the spirits no end!

This is one of a series "The 4 Seasons" - next will be Spring.

The 4 Seasons - Autumn

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”
- Emily Bronte

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


Autumn in Hillside - watercolour on Ashrad hot pressed paper - 8" x 6" - Maree©

With Autumn in full swing here in South Africa, the Black Wattle trees in Hillside, Tarlton, are still dressed in their show of brown seedpods and there's still a lot of greenery around, but soon it's going to be stark with lots of veld fires again. We live in a summer rainfall area and winter always brings dry, dusty conditions and the foliage is always covered in dust, wanting me to bring out my cleaning cloth and foliage cleaner to get the landscape sparkling again!

This is one of a series "The 4 Seasons" - next will be Winter.

The 4 Seasons - Summer

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.”
- James Dent

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


Summer in Tarlton - watercolour on Ashrad hot pressed paper 8" x 6" - Maree©

The Summer of 2009/2010 has been amazingly green with an extraordinary amount of rain, replenishing our rivers and ground water supply.

This is one of a series "The 4 Seasons" - next will be Autumn.