Black-headed Oriole

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

The Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus) is a frequent visitor to my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) and I’m always thrilled to hear his liquid call, upon which I rush out to refill the oranges and apples, which seem to be his favourite fruit.

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Plants in Terracotta pots

'We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.'

— Lao Tzu

I just love terracotta pots; love planting in them, love sketching them and just love collecting them!

This Angelwing Begonia seedling standing on my bathroom window sill looked so brave, proudly displaying its three new leaves, I just had to capture it. I started this plant from a cutting, one leaf, from another Begonia plant.

A Geranium I had on my window sill before trans-planting him into the garden. (Why do I think of it as a “him”? Maybe because he’s such a robust fellow…) It was just starting to flower, the tiny buds soon to be the well-known red geranium flowers.

Bunny Ears cacti originated in the wild (North and Central Mexico) and are popular garden and house plants here in South Africa. I bought my Bunny Ears two summers ago and after a nice rest this past winter, it is now showing lots of new ‘ears’. I’m just wondering if I will have any flowers while it is in a pot…

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To what lengths will you go when you're bored?!

“I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom!”
^{Thomas Carlyle, Scottish Historian and Essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era. 1795-1881}

Done in my Moleskine 200gsm Watercolour sketch-book

It’s amazing what you’ll do when inspiration fails to materialise. I just couldn’t think of anything to sketch – a landscape? No, boring! Some animals? No, boring! I was at my wit’s end, trying to come up with something, so I decided to really challenge myself and do something I really hate – still life!

I looked around the kitchen and grabbed a couple of things lying around and just started sketching. Before long I was totally immersed in capturing the see-throughness of the plastic wrap and the vibrant colours on hubby’s favourite mug – even my hake lying close-by got roped in!

Moving out of my comfort zone and doing something new made me realise that we so easily become entrenched in the ‘known’, that excitement and passion can easily ebb away and leave us feeling drained.
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“Often what we call procrastination, a lack of inspiration or boredom, is really just being trapped in the shell of our own comfort zone. Our comfort zone offers a safe haven, a trusted beaten path for us to follow. However the comfort zone can easily become, over time, our liability zone!”
<sup>- Dr. Sharon House – Creativity for Life

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Pink mums

“Why don’t you get a haircut? You look like a chrysanthemum.” 

- P. G. Wodehouse

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

I’ve just bought some potted Chrysanthemums from Woolworths, and I don’t know why I do this, because I never have much luck with their potted plants I buy! What I HAVE discovered is that there are Mums and there are HARDY mums, and obviously the potted variety for sale in pots are NOT the hardy variety! So planting them in the garden, like I usually do after they’ve finished flowering, is a useless exercise. This one will therefore just stay in-doors and I’ll enjoy it until it expires!

The chrysanthemum is the November birth flower, which means with love and cheerfulness. The hidden meaning of this beautiful flower is you’re a wonderful friend. Although Chrysanthemums are native to Asia and north-eastern Europe, they are widely grown all over the world.

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Hydrangeas speak of Summer

W&N watercolour on X-pressit 300gsm

Hydrangeas on my kitchen table

To me Hydrangeas speak of Summer and their fading colours speak of Autumn. In winter they are silent and in Spring they shout, “We’re here! We’re back! And Spring has come with us!”

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