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, January 3, 2019

Herbs in pots - Parsley

Ink and watercolour sketch in watercolour sketch pad.

Having herbs in terracotta pots on your kitchen windowsill is an excellent way of always having fresh herbs handy for your cooking.
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It’s easy to write parsley off. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is just the requisite garnish that decorates plates at fancy restaurants. Right? Wrong! Parsley is a popular culinary and medicinal herb recognized as one of the functional food for its unique antioxidants, and disease preventing properties.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Sunshine in the rain


W&N watercolour on Arches 300gsm

On cold and rainy days I sometimes feel I just HAVE to brighten up the day with something smiling! Not that I don’t smile during rainy weather, I love it! and sunflowers are the perfect flower to brighten any dark day.

"Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men and animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock."
- Henry Ward Beecher
 
 

Monday, July 10, 2017

Magaliesberg cliffs


Acrylic painting on gessoed un-stretched canvas sheet
Dedicated to all mountain-lovers!

A view of the Magaliesberg cliffs (NorthWest Province, South Africa), one of the few places where the White-backed Vulture still roams freely.

The Magaliesberg are among the oldest mountains in the world, almost 100 times older than Everest. They stretch for 120km from Bronkhorstspruit Dam east of Pretoria to Rustenburg in the west and separate the highveld grasslands to the south from the bushveld savannah in the north.

Sheer quartzite cliffs face south, overlooking a wide valley and a smaller ridge similar in shape and structure to the Magaliesberg.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Tarlton Landscape

 
Acrylic on Giverny 240gsm canvas – a beautiful summer’s day – done on location in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa

Not far from us a friend has a dam on his smallholding. When we visited, it gave me a chance to try my hand at some Acrylics, no sketching beforehand.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Early-morning Bluegums

 

Acrylic on canvas

The first light of day sweeps across some Bluegums (Eucalyptus trees) in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa. 

Bluegums play in important part in South Africa’s economy as they provide forage for our threatened honey bee population.