Magnificent Nature

I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence?
- James Thomson

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


Magnificent Nature - Watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book - 8" x 5" - Maree©

Trees and mountains - the best nature has to offer! And *such* a pleasure to try and capture the beauty on paper! Denise Levertov said, "You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honoured to have so venerable a neighbour, even when it sheds needles all over your flowers or wakes you, dropping big cones onto your deck at still of night!" How true! I cannot imagine a garden with no leaves - not only do they supply the earth with natural compost, but the Thrushes think it's heaven scratching through them, finding the most wonderful little tit-bits! My gardener has a very easy job, no raking is allowed in the garden!

Road through Noupoort

"A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside!"
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan


"Road through Noupoort" - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketchbook 8" x 5.5"

On the way to a friend's farm in Noupoort a few weeks ago, just the other side of Magaliesburg (South Africa), I stopped to do a quick sketch of the road disappearing past a hillock and did the colour over lunch, some chatting and a glass of wine. I think it got a bit over-worked, I couldn't put down my pen while chatting!

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!