The Township

"...A community needs a soul if it is to become a true home for human beings. You, the people must gift it this soul."
- Pope John Paul II

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


"The Township" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree© (no sketching)

Not far from us is Munsieville, a township built on the edge of a gulley with the most beautiful views over the ravine and the Krugersdorp Game Reserve (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) and as far as the Magaliesberg mountains surrounding Hartebeespoort Dam. This humble little suburb was established by ordinance 58 of 1903 of the Krugersdorp municipality and called "the native location". From the early 1930s to the 1940s, Mr. James Munsie, the white chief sanitary inspector (medical officer) of Krugersdorp, moved the location from a low drainage area to its current location, improving conditions.

In the 1980s, Munsieville was threatened with destruction and the removal of its residents to Kagiso because of its proximity to the white suburbs of Krugersdorp. Munsieville was one of only two black townships that resisted relocation in the Transvaal during that period.


Munsieville overlooking the Krugersdorp Game Reserve

Lover's Rock

“Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their souls, because the spirit was said to be carried in one's breath.”
- Eve Glicksman


"Lover's Rock" - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - 11" x 7.5" - Maree©

'Lover's Rock' is a family camping resort nestled on the banks of the Magalies River as it wends its way to join the Crocodile River onwards to Hartebeespoort Dam. The scenery in this area is breath-taking, and I'm sure there must be a story attached to this romantic name. The rocks towering over the river and the resort surely must evoke a tale of love and sorrow!

I would like to think that, one day, a long, long time ago, two lovers met in secret in this secluded spot. Sitting high on the rocks, holding one another close, their sorrow was bitter-sweet, as her family did not approve of him, the son of a local farmer and drunkard. "They don't realise what a wonderful person he is!" she thought. "How can they cast him in the same mould as his father?"

But today their meeting was different. He had come to tell her that he was leaving the area, going in search of work in the big city, so that he can prove to everybody that he is worthy of her love, and when he returns, it will be to ask her to be his wife.

She pleaded with him to stay, but his mind was made up. As he walked away, she sat staring into the depths of the ravine below her, tears flowing down her cheeks ...

Dandelion Time

"If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn!"
~Andrew Mason



My lawn (and the fields surrounding our house) is absolutely covered in Dandelions! In one spot it looks like a yellow carpet - wonder what the soil configuration is that makes them so rife in certain spots? I have always picked dandelions for a small vase I have, but it is only upon very close inspection when I was sketching them that I realised what true little beauties these small flowers are, each a masterpiece aster in miniature.

Did you know that Dandelions can be beneficial to a garden ecosystem as well as to human health? Dandelions attract beneficial ladybugs and provide early spring pollen for their food. In a study done at the University of Wisconsin, experimental plots with dandelions had more ladybugs than dandelion free plots, and fewer pest aphids, a favorite food of the ladybugs. Dandelions long roots also aerate the soil and enable the plant to accumulate minerals, which are added to the soil when the plant dies.

(I found this interesting information at "Northwest Coalition for alternatives to Pesticides")

Spaza shop

“The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.”
- Milton Friedman


Spaza Shop - watercolour in Moleskine Watercolour Sketch-book - 8" x 5" - Maree©

This Spaza shop in Tarlton has the most amazing bargains, like the cheapest cigarettes in the country!

A Spaza shop is an informal convenience shop business in South Africa, usually run from home. They also serve the purpose of supplementing household incomes of the owners, selling everyday small household items. These shops grew as a result of sprawling townships that made travel to formal shopping places more difficult or expensive.

"There are at least 100 000 spaza shops in South Africa – with an estimated 40 000 located in Gauteng – with a collective turnover of well over R7 billion per annum. Each spaza shop employs between two and three people, who in turn support an average of four family members. This translates into almost one million people benefiting from the existence of a spaza shop in their neighbourhood.

However, many of spaza shop owners do not hold formal business management qualifications and indeed, a significant number of them run spazas only as a means of survival."
(This info from SPAZANEWS)

Crocodile River in Broederstroom

"Sit by a river. Find peace and meaning in the rhythm of the lifeblood of the Earth."
— (Anonymous)

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


Broederstroom - Crocodile River - watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 11" x 7" - Maree©

Another view of the Crocodile River, as it meanders on its way to Hartebeespoort Dam in the North-West Province of South Africa.