Moonlit beach

"When the storm is over and night falls and the moon is out in all its glory and all you're left with is the rhythm of the sea, of the waves, you know what God intended for the human race, you know what paradise is."
- Harold Pinter

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


Acrylic on primed Acrylic un-stretched Canvas - 12" x 9" - Maree©

Today, or should I say tonight, is full moon and like many artists, I am quite fascinated by the phases of the moon. The shape varies from a full moon (when the Earth is between the sun and the moon) to a new moon (when the moon is between the sun and the Earth). When two full moons occur in a single month, the second full moon is called a "Blue Moon." Another definition of the blue moon is the third full moon that occurs in a season of the year which has four full moons (usually each season has only three full moons). A full moon appears as an entire circle in the sky. The full moon is given different names, depending on when it appears. For example, the "Harvest moon" is the full moon that appears nearest to the Autumnal Equinox, occurring in late September or early October.

This is one of my few forays into Acrylics and I really enjoyed working on this one.

A new start

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
- Maria Robinson

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


"A new start" - Watercolour on Visual 140gsm 13.5" x 10" - Maree©

Looking at this picture, one could either perceive a ruin and the sad end of something or a new start of a wonderful experience. This one is a family building their new home, preparing for a new adventure at the foothills of the Magaliesberg Mountains.

This was done from a photograph I took on our last trip to Hartebeespoort Dam.

The Journey

“I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?”

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


Magaliesburg Farm Road - watercolour in Moleskine watercolour sketchbook
8.5" x 5" - Maree©

A farm road in our area passing through Spring Farm, which we often use as a short-cut to get to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa). I did a quick ink sketch in my Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book and completed the colour when we got home.

A glint of Green

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!
~L.H. Bailey


A Glint of Green - Done with Fountain pen ink - Parker Quink Blue, Rohrer & Klinger "Verdura" green and Rohrer & Klinger "Vernambuk" red - on Ashrad 200gsm watercolour paper.

SPRING! is surfacing in South Africa (August 2010) and little bits of green are appearing everywhere! From tiny leaf buds to the greenest of grass stalks peeping through a black charred landscape, the world is turning greener by the day! Hooray!

Here I played with some Rohrer & Klinger and Parker fountain pen ink.

Road through Broederstroom

“The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.”
- Charles de Lint

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



This is the road to Harties through Broederstroom, a village located in the foothills of the Magaliesberg, 35km from Pretoria (South Africa), situated on the Crocodile River (where I sketched the open gate) and overlooking Hartebeespoort Dam from the East side.

The many routes we have as an option to Harties are equally as fabulous as the destination. Leaving the tar road, there is this short-cut over the mountain and virtually only fit for off-road vehicles, but the scenery and the wild life crossing our path more than makes up for such a bumpy ride.