Cosmos on the road

There’s nobody living who couldn't stand all afternoon in front of a waterfall .... Anyone who can sit on a stone in a field awhile can see my painting. Nature is like parting a curtain, you go into it .... as you would cross an empty beach to look at the ocean.
- Agnes Martin

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


Farm in Magaliesburg - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 12" x 8.5" - Maree©
For Sale

Every time we go to Magaliesburg, as we come over one of the hills, the Farm of Maloney's Eye stretches over the horizon, the sun casting golden shadows on the fields. This is also the place where the Magalies River originates, bubbling through the earth, forming a swampy area covered in the most exotic ferns and trees, rising up from the deep depths of the Sterkfontein Caves about 15kms away. As we drove past, the Cosmos was standing fresh and tall after a lovely down-pour.

I did this sketch from memory.

Moon - Waning Gibbous

Moon - Waning Gibbous 5th Dec 2009 - South Africa, Southern Hemisphere - Maree©

The moon was 84% of full tonight, and waning, peeking through the rain clouds after a lovely downpour. I decided to try and sketch it, but substituted half of the black tree-lined foreground with water. This was my first attempt at sketching at night and quite a new experience for me!

Veld fire in Tarlton

"There may be a great fire in our soul, net no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke."
- Vincent van Gogh

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


Veldfire in Tarlton in October 2009 - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book Maree©

This was another veld fire in our area, very late for the season - we stopped on the side of the road and this time I had my watercolour pencils with me! Did some quick preliminary colour and finished it off at home. The sunset was actually stunning behind all the smoke - should have stayed longer and gotten more detail on the clouds ... ah well, next time!

Harrismith landscape

"Harrismith landscape" - Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - size 12" x 8.5"
For Sale

I drive down to Ballito on the North Coast of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, about 6 or 7 times a year, and have done this route along the N3 South for so many years, the scenery is etched into my mind. During June/July, our winter months, the Drakensberg mountains in the distance are covered with snow and makes for a beautiful sight.

Passing through the Free State, you come upon the town of Harrismith, close to the border of KwaZulu Natal, which is one of the major stops for fuel on this 670km trip(about 420 miles). Here the landscape changes dramatically from miles and miles of totally flat farming landscape to mountain vistas and an area called "The Valley of a 1000 Hills", and there are thousands of hills as you descend down Van Reenen's Pass for the next 20 kilometers or so into KwaZulu Natal towards the coastal region.

I did this watercolour from memory.

Crested Barbet

If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
Chinese Proverb


Crested Barbet - pen and watercolour in Agenda Planner Journal - Maree©

I heard the Crested Barbet's warbling song early this morning, so I rushed out with my sketch-book, knowing that they sit still in once place for a long time, stretching their warble for so long one thinks he's going to run out of breath!

Had plenty of time to do a quick outline sketch, filling it in with detail as he warbled on. A few quick stokes of colour and I was done!

The Crested Barbets are regular visitors to my garden and seem to know when the feed tables contain fruit - the love apple and banana and will sometimes swallow grapes whole!

I used only 4 colours on this quick exercise - Payne's Grey, Orange, Alizarin Crimson and Burn Sienna, all from Daler-Rowney. Oh, I almost forgot - and Sap Green for the leaves.