Advice from a Wetland

 

Ink sketch and W&N watercolour in Moleskine 200gsm watercolour book

• Make a splash
• Take time to reflect
• Listen to nature
• Reed more 
• Be green
• Don't get bogged down
• What's the rush?

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A stream and sunrise

 

Sunrise casting a golden glow over the banks of this little stream.

“There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” 

Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

Winter wonderland

Dedicated to all my Northern Hemisphere blogger-friends!

On a wonderful clear winter night,
Feeling the breeze,
Watching the trees,
They're swaying with grace,
In this peaceful little place,

Oh man, how wonderful Winter can be!

- Unknown

It's almost December again and while the Northern Hemisphere is already enduring their cold season, here in South Africa we are in the middle of summer and we've been lucky to be blessed with some excellent rains ringing in the Christmas season. I live on the Dolphin Coast in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, and our tropical climate ensures bright green landscapes throughout the year. No Snowmen and Mistletoe for us, everybody flocks to the beach on the hottest days of the year and organise Christmas parties hosting outdoor braais (barbecues) and warm Christmas Eves opening presents under beautifully decorated Xmas trees, one thing that is surely the same the world over.

I've got this little hand-made sketchbook with a satin-finish linen paper and I can sit for hours churning out these little 7"x 4" (17cm x10cm) watercolour sketches. I find it totally calming and it also satisfies my need to fiddle! This paper is very unforgiving, can’t take pencil marks, so you can’t do any preliminary drawing and also no erasing. The paper (or linen) virtually disintegrates under an eraser. Once you put colour to paper, that’s it! But it does allow for a lovely flow of the paint, which I enjoy immensely as I never know exactly what I’m going to end up with.

This snow scene is for all my Northern Hemisphere friends and also a bit of wishful thinking on my part. Just ONCE in my life I would love to see a White Christmas!

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Fifty shades of brown

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm. Using various shades of brown mixed from a variety of colours on my palette. 

It is very satisfying placing colour randomly and watching something emerge. Whether it makes sense or not is irrelevant--it's the journey that counts. Sometimes just a few strokes are required, and sometimes intense fiddling is necessary and unstoppable. Whichever route you take, enjoy the journey, enjoy the fulfilment and never, ever stress over the outcome. Whichever way it goes, you're in control, it's your choice -- whether it is ever seen or discarded.

Namasté

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Rhus lancea leaves - Black Karee

W&N watercolour on Amedeo 200gsm mixed media paper
Leaves of a Black Karee tree in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Indigenous to Southern Africa, this tree is a bit untidy with a weird growing habit of the branches backing up on one another and having most of its leaves right at the tip of the branches. It has a graceful, weeping form and dark, fissured bark that contrasts well with its long, thinnish, hairless, dark-green, tri-foliate leaves with smooth margins. The small, inconspicuous flowers are presented as much-branched sprays which are greenish-yellow in colour and are produced from June until September.

The fruit are small (up to 5mm in diameter), round, slightly flattened and covered with a thin fleshy layer which is glossy and yellowish to brown when ripe. The fruits are produced from September until January, and during that time, my garden is a total mess! And if it happens to rain a lot, I have hundreds of seedlings sprouting up throughout the garden. And yet I have never been able to remove one and grow it successfully …

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