JUST ME :: and a stack of blank pages

:: Living creatively ::

About me

This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realise it is play. The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is. I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it. If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

The Cheetah

Cats (the Cheetah) were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man.
~Paul Gray

  Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)- W&N watercolour, using only Sepia, on Bockingford 300gsm 

The cheetah is a large-sized feline (family Felidae) inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species’ paws. As such, it is the only felid with non-retractable claws and pads that, by their scope, disallow gripping (therefore cheetah cannot climb vertical trees, although they are generally capable of reaching easily accessible branches).
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Monday, July 8, 2013

My favourite outfit

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm

This used to be one of my favourite outfits. Unfortunately the jacket is all frayed on the cuffs and my little red pumps have seen better days! I find it really difficult to find nice jackets. South Africa is never really cold enough for anything too thick, and this cotton one with a satin lining was just perfect.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Painted Dog

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals.”
- George Orwell


I did this painting with coffee on a tea-stained back-ground (Nescafé instant, black, and VERY strong!) – Bockingford 300gsm – 12″ × 8″

The Painted dog or African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus), is a medium-sized canid found only in Africa, especially in savannahs and other lightly wooded areas. It is also called the Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, the Cape Hunting Dog, the Spotted Dog, the Ornate Wolf or the Painted Wolf in English, Wildehond in Afrikaans, and Mbwa mwitu in Swahili. It is the only extant species in the genus Lycaon, with one species, L. sekowei, being extinct.

There were once approximately 500,000 African Wild Dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Now there are only about 3,000-5,500 in fewer than 25 countries or less. They are primarily found in Eastern and Southern Africa, mostly in the two remaining large populations associated with the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania and the population centered in northern Botswana and Eastern Namibia.

Whilst the largest population resides in the Kruger National Park (South Africa), some wild dogs have been released into Madikwe, Pilanesberg and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, South Africa.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

A winter's morn

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

A winter's morning at a dam in Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa) 

It was still ash-grey on a Sunday morning, but winter was awake already. She was whispering everywhere. She was shaking shaking everything in her path. She seeped through the gaps around the doors and windows. She crawled down the walls and flooded the room with her ice-cold breath. She crept into my bed. Then woke me up and penetrated my duvet. Surrounded by her, I found myself shrinking like an earthworm. I then had to compromise my bed. She enjoyed taking possession. I was trying to sleep with my knees squashed to my head and my arms around my ankles. I was shaking when I felt her presence. I got up and closed the windows. She were trapped, inside. 
- Unknown

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Saturday, June 1, 2013

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 
Barn Owl (Tyto alba) 
Afrikaans : Nonnetjie-uil 

Ghostly pale and (not) strictly nocturnal, Barn Owls (Tyto alba) are silent predators of the night world. Lanky, with a whitish face, chest, and belly, and buffy upperparts, this owl roosts in hidden, quiet places during the day. By night, they hunt on buoyant wingbeats in open fields and meadows. You can find them by listening for their eerie, raspy calls, quite unlike the hoots of other owls. Despite a worldwide distribution, Barn Owls are declining in parts of their range due to habitat loss. I for one do not see them as often as I used to. 

Once welcomed by farmers as one form of pest control, the population is now under threat from modern farming techniques, e.g. the destruction of hedgerows & meadowland, which affect their prey, the removal of old barns & buildings, which were their nesting places and the use of chemicals to control rodents. 

The Owl Rescue Centre is the only raptor centre in South Africa that primarily focus on owl species. They give all their time and attention to owl species because of the high mortality rate of owls in South Africa, making owls vulnerable to a decreasing population. They rehabilitate and release 200 – 250 Spotted Eagle Owls, 100 – 150 Barn Owls and 80 -100 other owl species each year. 

SHOULD YOU FIND AN OWL THAT YOU SUSPECT MIGHT BE INJURED, PLEASE CALL THEM ON 082 719 5463 (24/7 emergency line – South Africa)

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Turn, turn, turn!

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - I used a candle for the white parts of the gulls. You can freely apply colour over it, where the candle wax is, it stays white.

Seagulls (in the family Laridae) and an Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) waiting their turn for a morsel of bread. One of my favourite past-times, watching seagulls… These gulls were hanging out at a restaurant in St. Lucia (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) and I was almost thrown out because I was feeding them!

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Gemsbuck study

We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. 
 ~Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization 

Pilot Fineliner Black ink sketch with W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm (135lb) Smooth heavy-weight sketching paper

The few times that I have seen a Gemsbuck, I've been in utter awe. their beauty is beyond description and it totally  amazes me that anybody would want to kill such a magnificent animal (no matter what the excuse!).

The Gemsbuck (Oryx gazella) is one of the most handsome antelope in Africa, with its long rapier-like horns and striking markings. They can form herds of up to 20 - 30 animals. Gemsbuck are grazers but will survive on browse in times of drought. When wounded they can be very dangerous animals to approach on foot. The horns of the calves grow extremely fast and when they emerge from concealment after birth their horns are very evident. This has lead to the myth that a Gemsbok is born with horns.

Here I have done the same sketch, but given it a card-like appearance.

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Lobelias for Winter



It's winter here in South Africa and time for Lobelia! As an annual, Lobelia will grow nearly anywhere and they are great in hanging baskets – which is the route I go as my chickens destroy anything delicate planted directly in the ground!

Native to Southern Africa, trailing Lobelia (Lobelia erinus) needs plenty of sun to bloom its best. Technically they are to be planted late winter and will flower from spring well into midsummer or even longer, but here in Tarlton our heat can get pretty intense, so I prefer to plant them in Autumn and every winter I have a blue mass of beauty. I hang them under the eaves of the patio so that they don't get any direct frost and where they get morning sun and mid-afternoon shade.

When planting Lobelia in hanging baskets and hanging planters ensure your basket or planter has plenty of holes for drainage. Then select a good, lightweight, airy potting soil. In summer, they will need watering daily as the temperatures start to warm up, but in winter I water only once a week.

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Friday, May 24, 2013

A garden path

W&N watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm 

I always seem to be doing the opposite of what I should, like with gardening. In stead of jumping into gardening like everybody else in Spring, every Autumn I get this inexplicable urge to revamp my garden! I think it must be the cooler weather, much easier carting paving stones and pots around when it's not so hot.

I've just bought 10 bags of compost and a couple of bags of potting soil for a few potted plants and will be feeding the garden just as it wants to rest! But I'm sure all my earth worms will be thankful for a bit of extra sustenance during this cold period...

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Monday, May 6, 2013

This garden that I know


 "There is a garden that is not like the other gardens round about. In many of these gardens the flowers are only prisoners, forced to weave carpets on the changeless turf, and when the eye is sated and the impression palls, they become to their owners, who have no part in them, merely purchased episodes. 

This garden that I know has a bit of green, a space of flowers, and a stretch of wildness, as Bacon says a garden should always have. At its birth, the twelve months each gave to it a gift, that it might always yield an offering to the year, and presently it grew so lovable that there came to it a soul."
From 'The Story of a Garden' by Mabel Osgood Wright (1859-1934)

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