River landscape

“What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.”
- Hal Boyle


River landscape - watercolour - 12" x 8.5" - Maree©

A great story about the Zambezi River - The river god, Nyaminyami, is two snakes, one male and one female. When the bridge was built across the Zambezi at Victoria Falls, the two snakes were separated. But the male snake still longs for his mate. Every now and then, he lunges out towards her - and that's why there are earthquakes.

Blue Gum Forest on 84

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
- Robert Louis Stevenson



This Blue Gum forest on our smallholding is just in the process of recovering from winter and some heavy veld fires - most of the dead leaves are gone and some of the trees are still black from being burnt, but some green grass is starting to peep through. It provides me with endless hours of enjoyment walking through the trees, watching the birds and sketching.

Sketching in my area

My neighbour's house... half hidden by a huge, gnarled old Oak. I was half-way up his driveway, which is about 300m long, sketching the scene, when he came driving down in his bakkie (our term for an LDV, the 'a' being pronounced as in 'bucky', weird, but true!) - he didn't mind at all, and asked to see the sketch when it was finished, which led to him buying it when I showed it to him a week later!

Just an explanation of the long driveways - the size of our properties here in Tarlton is 8,5ha (or 21 acres or 10 morgen), which normally translates to a front width of approximately 200 meters and a depth or length of 600 meters, and most houses are either right at the back or half-way up the property. Sometimes, like ours, the house is in the front of the property, close to the road, leaving the full length of the back of the property for some farming activity.

We do not do any farming, but half of the property was planted with Eragrostis by the previous owner, a perennial grass used as fodder for horses and cattle, and plays host to a variety of birds, one being a little bird similar to the reed warbler, building it's nest by tying the long grass stalks together. A quarter is taken up by our living area and a quarter contains a Blue gum forest, planted in the early 20th Century for use by the mining industry. This forest is where I spend a great deal of time sketching the trees.

Wise Old Owl

Some wise words for 2010 :

“A wise old owl sat on an oak;
The more he saw the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he heard;
Why aren't we like that wise old bird?”


"Scops Owl" watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©
{Otus senegalensis}

The African Scops Owl is a common, sometimes abundant, resident of Savannah woodland in South Africa. Scops Owls feed mostly on insects and spiders and breed in a tree cavity.

The Scops Owl is fully nocturnal and mostly insectivorous. It is a bird of scrub and bush territory, and often uses ground nest sites for breeding.

It is a small owl of only about 17cm and lays its 4-6 eggs in a tree cavity from April - June. Incubation about 27 days. Young fledge by about 30 days.

Its call is a soft croaking, frog-like "prrrup-prrrup".


Detail of Scops Owl feet


Detail of Scops Owl face

"Making A Mark" Award

A most fitting way to start a new year! Our group blog, Sketching in Nature, hosted by Cathy (Kate) Johnson, of which I am proud to say I am also a contributor, received the "Going Greener" award from Katherine Tyrrell of "Making A Mark". These awards are given out every year to artists, blogs, groups, etc.



This year, Sketching in Nature gets it for "Going Greener" - with many kind words for the contributors of Sketching in Nature.

Thank you, Katherine!

Go to MAKING A MARK for more information.