Acceptance - on Mother's Day

AFFIRMATION :

"I accept my human imperfections as an expression of beauty;

I accept my struggles and rough parts as my teachers."

The magic of affirmations and visualizations has come a long way with me and has formed a large part of who I am and where I am today.

The above affirmation is the latest to join the list on my mirror, as I've been finding myself bemoaning my "fate" quite a bit lately, albeit only in my own mind. One so easily falls into the trap of dissatisfaction, wanting 'perfection' in everything, not realising that everything is perfect and beautiful as it is.

Letting go of insecurities and worries is important for me to move forward, both as a whole and complete person as well as an artist.

African Storm Brewing

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather."
- John Ruskin

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


African Storm Brewing - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 11" x 7.5" - Maree©

It's already April, way past our rainy season, and on one of our recent trips to Harties (Schoemansville), I captured this Autumn storm brewing over a farm on the banks of the Crocodile River, which flows through Broederstroom on it's way to Hartebeespoort Dam in the North-West Province of South Africa.

When a storm is brewing (in your mind or in your life), embrace it as just another delicious experience, like a summer shower. See what you can learn from it, take a lesson from it, because soon the clouds will have a silver lining again as the sunshine bursts through. Nothing lasts forever - not the rain, not the sunshine, not the storm - so might as well accept it into our lives as just another "bad weather" phenomena.

Tulips from South Africa ♪♫

in the shady garden | one tulip

A Twitter poem from WATERMARK

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


Tulips in a Vase - ink sketch and watercolour in my Daily Journal - Maree©

I have this vintage, white enamel jug, which I love to fill with flowers, even grasses which I gather from the road-side, and recently a friend who owns a flower farm here in Tarlton brought over some Tulips, which they export to Holland. We all equate Tulips with the Dutch, but according to my friend the tulips were brought from Turkey and introduced to the Dutch in 1593, and the Dutch have certainly coined the phrase "Tulips from Amsterdam"!

Greedy vs. Needy?

"Here you are, on the same planet that you've been on for more years than you have the ability to count. And just in the last 400 years, look at the difference in your economy. And it's the same exact planet. Nobody has been trucking in or piping in any resources. There are not more resources present today. You are just vibrationally lining up with the utilization of them.

And, oh, this planet's ability to yield to you: you have not even scratched the surface of it. It is a continually replenishing environment. And you would never be able to get your planet imbalanced by utilizing more of its resources than it could produce. It just cannot happen. "
-Abraham-Hicks


Scene on Spring Farm - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 8" x 6" - Maree©

While sketching this wonderful scene at Spring Farm the other day, it reminded me of an article I read on someone's blog, saying, "We have been guilty of taking more than our share and expecting more than the Earth could provide for all the people in her care."

This is not possible - Earth and her resources cannot run out or be finished, although that is what mass consciousness would have us believe - the supply in the Universe is unlimited, it is there for us to tap into.

If you want more to come (money or anything else), you've got to find some way of getting off the subject of "not enough", and the easiest way is appreciation of what we have. The "allowing mode" feels like fun, feels like joy - the "resistant mode" feels like tension, feels like hate.

There are enough resources for everyone to have everything they want.

Mohandas K. Gandhi got it completely wrong when he said : "There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed." It is mass consciousness thoughts like this which disallows all the abundance we deserve, and which the Universe supplies in endless abundance.

Jack of all trades

“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.”
- Henri Matisse

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


Roses - Watercolour on Ashrad hot-pressed 6" x 8" - Maree©

When I woke up this morning, I thought, "What is my agenda for today?" so I decided that, today, I will just sketch - anything, everything, landscapes, flowers.

I've been wondering about my "style" lately - have I got a "style"? Are people able to look at my art and say "that is a Maree Clarkson"? Isn't that perhaps what art is all about, finding your niche and sticking to a recognisable format and "style"?

It's been a long time now that I've been berating myself for being such a "Jack of all trades" - sketching and painting, making jewelry, can do wood carving, copper work, pewter work, bead work, and the list is longer that what you want to know - thinking that I should be specialising in something special, something unique, or only one thing, even only sticking to one subject in painting, and then I came upon this quote this morning:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, Conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects."
-- Lazarus Long

What a relief! Matter cleared up! How easily aren't we persuaded by the opinions of others...?!

Perfect Imperfection

"... because it is in the tumbling that the stone gets polished!"

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


Practice 6

I've come to the conclusion that not everything has to be perfect. The joy of every brush stroke is perfection in itself, the joy of a unique creation. We are so worried about criticism that the joy of the journey is so often lost, chasing after perfection, completion, the destination.

"Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."
- Leonard Cohen

(These thoughts came to me after I had scanned this sketch and decided I didn't like it and that it wasn't fit for publication - no name even!)

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.

Autumn setting in

“Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.”

- William Cullen Bryant

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

Autumn Setting in - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook - 8" x 5.5" - Maree

Autumn is in full swing and the trees in my garden are slowly starting to change colour - this is actually a friend's garden on their plot here in Tarlton, South Africa, and I just had to capture her Japanese Maple in all its glorious orange splendour amongst her mostly indigenous trees. She commented that she never knew her garden was so beautiful and that she will be looking at it differently now!

Tarlton Vlei

“Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colours appear.”
- wolfdyke

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


"Vlei in Tarlton" watercolour in Moleskine Folio 200gsm - 12" x 8" - Maree©

Still on the subject of rain, all the vleis in Tarlton and surrounding areas are full and turning the landscape into a shimmering play of colours... For the past couple of weeks we've had between 15mm and 70ml rain most days, causing trees to fall over and swollen rivers to burst their banks. It's also great seeing huge flocks of water birds enjoying this abundance so late in the season.

This area, just 3km from us, is usually quite dry, with young boys charging around on their off-road bikes.

I'm on a Seagull mission!

“Why is it,” Jonathan puzzled, “that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he’d just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?”
- From Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

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


"Seagull in flight" - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book 8" x 5.5" - Maree©

After just having read "Jonathan Livingstone Seagull" (I know, I'm a late bloomer!), I'm enamoured by seagulls again! It's a passion that has been lying dormant for some time and awakened by this wonderful little book again.

Whenever I go down to the coast, one of the highlights of my visit is feeding the seagulls. They look at one with definite, calculated intention, and they seem to anticipate your next move before you even know what's it's going to be, snatching the food as it leaves your fingers. I also love the way they land right next to you, so close that you can see the pupil in their eye, without any apparent fear, yet poised for instant flight should you make an ominous move.

One time, a seagull landed next to me within touching distance, the plastic ring of some soda can wrapped around its one leg. I reached out slowly to try and catch it, and it lifted into the air, staying just centimeters from my grasping hand, landing again as soon as I retreated. I tried to grab it quickly, and once again it lifted off, staying just inches away from my hand, landing again as soon as it was safe. I fed it some bread and watched with great pain in my heart as it eventually lifted off and took flight over the ocean.

But here's the thing - I travel down to Ballito, on the North Coast of KwaZulu Natal, a few times during the year, but I have to go to Durban or further North up the coast to find the seagulls - there are no seagulls in Ballito! And yet they are up here in Gauteng, 600km from the coast, a mystery I still intend solving!

Seagulls in Randfontein

“To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, ”you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…”
- From Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

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


Seagulls in Randfontein - a quick watercolour study in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

Not far from us, about 22km, lies the gold mining town of Randfontein, about 45 km west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing in 1889, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and floated the Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company. The town was established in 1890 to serve the new mine and was administered by Krugersdorp until it became a municipality in 1929.

(If you click on the "Randfontein" link, you will also see the Hartebeespoort Dam area on the left of the map, my favourite sketching spot, and where it is situated from where I live in Krugersdorp.)



We visited Randfontein yesterday, and what amazes me about this town is the fact that you can find flocks of Seagulls there, 600km from the coast! I've tried to track the history of how these birds could have landed up there, but to no avail - I have now contacted the Randfontein Publicity Association to see if they might have some information.

Quacking and Squawking overhead

You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
- Chinese Proverb

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


Duck sketches in Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

As I was filling the bird feeders yesterday morning, I heard a terrible raucous and as I looked up, six ducks came flying over, quacking and chatting, sounding like a busy freeway in the sky. I managed to identify some South African Shell ducks and some Mallards. Peculiar that they were all flying together, but given the Mallard's tendency to mate with anything and anyone, it's probably not that surprising. But there again, what I thought was the Shell ducks might have been female Mallards.


Duck sketches in Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

This is done in my Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook, which, when opened, is too long for the scanner to cover both pages, therefore the two pictures.

Low tide

It's hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much. Everything about it is renewing for me, almost like therapy...Beach Therapy”

--Amy Dykens

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


"The beach - Low tide" - watercolour in Moleskine watercolour sketch-book
8" x 5.5" - Maree©

In Wikipedia the tides are explained as follows:

• Sea level rises over several hours, covering the intertidal zone; flood tide.
• The water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide.
• Sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone; ebb tide.
• The water stops falling, reaching low tide.

To me this is very similar to the feelings we experience throughout our lifetime - we all have our ups and downs. So when you're feeling down, just remember - after every low tide comes a high tide.

Mauritius beach - No. 18

Mauritius Beach - watercolour in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook - 8" x 5"

In December 2008 we were lucky enough to visit Mauritius for a week for my daughter's wedding. Of course the kids were having a ball - swimming in the ocean, snorkeling, paddle-boating, jet-skiing, fishing trips, sailing - the list is endless. And this palm tree was the centre of their attention, climbing up to the top, dangling precariously while having their photographs taken. I did this sketch from memory, as the trip is deeply etched in my memory forever.


Some friends sailing in the tropical waters of Mauritius

I don't regard myself as a big traveller (although I do go down to the North Coast, Ballito, about 10 times a year (because my daughter lives there and we also have a holiday apartment there) and to Cape Town a couple of times a year, where my sister-in-law lives) and I really envy people that hop on the plane or take off somewhere at the drop of a hat. I've only been overseas (UK) once and didn't find myself particularly impressed by anything and besides, those long hours on the plane (or bus or train!) are definitely not for me. I prefer to jump in my car on a whim and when I feel like it.


The Stunning Beach at 'Sunset Beach'

We were a party of 14 people and at 9.30 am our flight departed from O.R. Tambo airport in South Africa. After a four-hour flight, we arrived in Mauritius at 3.30pm! Weird, the time-zone thing... and then another hour's drive from Port Louis to Sugar Beach Hotel, where we were just in time for sun downers after getting all the luggage to our rooms.


Sugar Beach Hotel


Entrance to the Hotel, with me trying to escape the sun

Sun downers was an absolutely blissful experience - everything that anybody could ever dream of - stunning setting, stunning views and the most stunning service I've ever come across anywhere.


Sundowner Deck at night


Sundowner Deck during the day, where you can also enjoy lunch

The rooms are beautifully appointed, en-suite, spacious and, obviously, air-conditioned, (without which I would not have managed to survive!) with stunning views over the ocean. All the expected extras like tea and coffee server, writing material, internet connection and a fridge brim-full with delightful goodies!


Our Large Bedroom


Another view of the bedroom


En-suite bathroom

We had a state-of-the-art swimming pool right in front of our room, which was heated at night! (can't believe anybody would be cold there!) and it just seemed to blend in with the sky and ocean. At the restaurants there was another pool (HUGE, with islands and deck chairs in the water for sipping cocktails) and lot's of play-space for the children.


Pool in front of our room


Pool at The Tides Restaurant


Deck chairs in the pool for sipping cocktails

Sitting at The Tides Restaurant at dusk, chatting and sipping cocktails in the cooler evening air was the highlight of my every day - cool ocean breezes, the beautiful Indian Ocean - a get-together of everybody, sharing experiences and regaling the thrills of the day's happenings (everybody would have breakfast together in the beautiful dining room every morning, but thereafter, each was off on their own trip - swimming in the ocean, snorkelling, paddle-boating, jet-skiing, fishing trips, sailing or flitting off to Flick 'n Flack for some shopping.


The Tides cocktail deck

It was an unforgettable experience for me, partly because of my daughter's wedding and partly because I've (like everybody else) had this dream of visiting a tropical island, lazing on the sun-soaked beach and cooling off in an Azure blue ocean. Another dream realised! Just goes to show we're never too old to do something new!

After a week of bliss, it was time to return home on a four-hour flight that actually only took 2 hours! - once again the time zone thing - we boarded Mauritian time 4.30 pm and arrived Johannesburg 6.30 pm.

Definitely a travel experience to remember and for anybody that has not yet visited Mauritius, I would highly recommend Sugar Beach Hotel as your chosen destination.


View from our room


Lounge at Sugar Beach Hotel


The Bride and Groom - my daughter Samantha and Donovan Crewe


The Wedding Marquee on the Beach

The Seagull and the beach

"Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that gull’s life is so short and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed."
- From 'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull'

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


"The Seagull and the beach" - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book
8.5" x 5" - Maree©

This is done from my imagination – I'm longing for the beach and seagulls!

"Seagull, you fly across the horizon
Into the misty morning sun.
Nobody asks you where you are going,
Nobody knows where you're from.

Here is a man asking the question
Is this really the end of the world?
Seagull, you must have known for a long time
The shape of things to come.
Now you fly, through the sky, never asking why,
And you fly all around 'til somebody, Shoots you down.

Seagull go and fly,
Fly to your tomorrow, leave me to my sorrow, fly."

Exploring Tonal value

As artists, we must learn to be self nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them – to restock the trout pond, so to speak.
- Julia Cameron


Beach and trees - tonal value exercise

My watercolour workshops with Angela Eidelman are two weeks apart - every second Wednesday - and probably just as well - after three hours of watching, listening, planning, and actual sketching exercises, I find myself totally exhausted afterwards, and I'm telling myself it's NOT an age thing! My younger counter-parts like Cathy Gatland (read her workshop up-dates with Hazel Soan here) and Debbie Schiff (read Debbie's posts about her art class with Hazel Soan here) have both complained about the same thing. It's hard and exhausting work setting up your work station, trying to take in everything and anxiously trying not to make a complete botch-up of your exercises, right there where everybody is witness to the whole thing!

So for two weeks until my next class, I've got plenty of time to practice all the basics. At first I've been trying to do everything all in one painting - the planning, good composition, focal point, light source, tonal value, and where the most detail or the least detail is. I've given that up as a bad job and am spending a day or two on each point - the exercise above is mostly about tonal value, but it also gave me a chance to explore the source of where my light is coming from and making sure I don't have shadows running in all sorts of directions!

A new family!

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg - not by smashing it."

- Arnold Glasow

"Pippie the Hen" - watercolour on Visual 140gsm - 12" x 8" - Maree©

This is Pippie, one of Kingston's hens, getting quite fluffed up having me so close and personal in her space! The other hen took off as soon as I approached, but I think Pippie's brood is about to hatch and she's not being intimidated by a lunatic with a sketch-book!

She was in Kingston's harem when I bought them, just in time, as he was destined for the pot. I haven't brought them over to my yard yet as some of the hens are still sitting on eggs, so I'll be getting a few extra for my money spent!

The learning curve - Watercolour Workshop 1

Doing work points the way to new and better work to be done.
- Julia Cameron


Original "Field in Oaktree" watercolour 12" x 8"
(Click on images to enlarge)

During my watercolour workshop, my teacher took my above painting to demonstrate to the class how a good painting can become exceptional - she showed me where to add some colour and soften some lines, and to add some softness in the distance to draw the eye to the focal point. Little changes, but with amazing results! We could play, "Spot the difference" here!


"Field in Oaktree" corrected

I know what I think, you be the judge! - this is such a learning curve for me and I'm so excited, and impatient! and ready, to go to the next level of my growth.

5-Minute exercises

“In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the one who holds the storms will bring the sun.”

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


"Storm Brewing" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree© (no sketching)

I decided it was time for some quick 5-minute exercises again with no sketching before-hand and to encourage looseness and I did these two in under 5 minutes each. These quick exercises really irk me - my brush just itches to do more and more!


"The Beach" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8" - Maree© (no sketching)