Cottage by the sea...

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


"Cottage by the Sea" - watercolour on Visual 200gsm - 12" x 9" - Maree©

"Happiness is a summer breeze, sand between your toes, and your best friend by your side."

My dream of a cottage by the sea… There are songs written about it, there are books written about it and poems written about it – the sea. How many of us have the dream of owning a cottage by the sea? I mean a cottage standing all alone, surrounded by nothing but the wild sea, the dunes, mist and the gulls, miles from the nearest civilization. A place of peace and tranquility, quiet walks on the beach with not a soul in sight, collecting shells and drift-wood, sitting on a rock watching the ships go by…

Don’t we all have a dream like that?

This is an imaginary scene on the West Coast of South Africa.

Have a great day everyone!

Cosmos swaying in the breeze

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


Cosmos - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 11" x 7.5"

"Bright flowers, whose home is everywhere
Bold in maternal nature's care
And all the long year through the heir
Of joy and sorrow,
Methinks that there abides in thee
Some concord with humanity,
Given to no other flower I see
The forest through."
- William Wordsworth

The show of Cosmos in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) this year was fabulous! They stretched next to the road-sides for kilometers and extended into ploughed fields, swaying pink, lilac, white and cerise in the wind. Nature puts up this grand show every year from November, well into March, and tourists travel from the Cape Province to Mpumalanga to witness this spectacular event.

Cosmos are originally native to scrub and meadow areas in Mexico (where the bulk of the species occur), the southern United States (Arizona, Florida), Central America, South America south to Paraguay and South Africa.

Crocodile River 1

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


"Crocodile River 1" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©

Runs all day but never walks
Often murmurs, never talks.
It has a bed but never sleeps,
It has a mouth but never eats.

Crooked as a snake,
Slick as a plate
Ten thousand horses
Can't pull it straight.

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
- Mark Twain

Just before the Crocodile River flows into the Hartebeespoort Dam (North-West Province, South Africa), it makes a quirky little bend, flowing past some houses on a hill-top. These residences don't have a view of the dam, but the view of the river must be equally pleasing. How blessed are those with stunning views like this!

Well-guarded Secret

“Secrets are made to be found out with time.”
- Charles Sanford

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


Watercolour in my Moleskine Folio 200gsm Watercolour sketch-book - 12" x 8" - Maree©

About 20 kilometers down the road from us, lies the area of Honingklip, a rural area now densely populated as progress has spread slowly but surely from Roodepoort (Gauteng, South Africa) on its way West towards Tarlton. Twenty years ago this area was still "in the country", now it's a stone's throw from major highways and shopping centres.

Yet, not far off the main road, lies this hidden little secret - a beautiful pond known only to the most avid of fishermen and lovers of nature. Sitting on the grass at the edge of the pond, one can hardly believe that you're just minutes from civilisation, as Reed Cormorants dry themselves on the branches of an old, dead tree and ducks serenely cruise the water, ever on the lookout for something to eat.

We visited here not so long ago, and as the men sat chatting and enjoying their beers, I sketched a corner of the scene.

Forest drama

Forest Drama - Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book - 5" x 8"

Winter here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) is always dramatic and spectacular. Once the green fields of summer turn yellow and dry, and after the veld fires have swept the landscape, we are left with gorgeous contrasts of greens, blacks and browns, starkly contrasting with the bright blue of winter skies.

Despite our fire breaks and the fact that our grass had been cut, our smallholding did not escape the ravages of the veld fires this year - it swept through our property in the small hours of the morning, leaving a charred landscape in its wake and the acrid smell of smoke in the air.

I took a walk down to the Blue Gum forest at the bottom of our smallholding (8.5ha), and did this sketch of some trees that had been caught in the fire, a drama that plays itself out year after year.