One pound #274

Daily painting #274 pen, ink and watercolor on A5 watercolor paper

With a 20/1 rand/pound exchange rate visiting England can be quite an expensive trip if you are South African and so I had forewarned my daughter.....'No shopping!!!' But yesterday she discovered the one pound store in Putney High Street....and we walked Wimbledon Village yesterday looking for Loom bangles while the boys were playing cricket! I have forgotten how much you walk here...and how lovely it is to walk and feel safe! The weather was kind, the boys managed to finish a whole cricket game with a good win and although I was still cold (typical Durban girl) the sun did come out for a while! Gallery hopping in the morning....can't wait!

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England...cloudy with a chance of rain! #273

Daily painting #273  4" x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Sunshine one minute....pouring with rain the next! Welcome back to England! Our boys have yet to make it through an entire game of cricket without rain interfering, yesterday they didn't even get onto the field! This afternoon I was freezing cold and sat inside at a window to paint....

I don't think I have yet to feel this cold in our Durban winter. These English summers are a shock to a Durbanites system...I should have packed more 'Durban winter' clothes!

It is good to be back though....after 16 years! Heading off early to Putney tomorrow to show my family where I used to live and then off to Wimbledon to watch cricket (yes not tennis) ...weather permitting....

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Fading protea # 272

Daily painting #272. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Late night last night and up REALLY early ....painting done! Bags packed and have bid farewell to Durban for 2 weeks....

I am sitting in the Johannesburg airport waiting for our connecting evening flight now to London. I am loading the daily painting onto the blog this evening (I normally send it through first thing in the morning) but I am not sure I will get around to logging in tomorrow morning.....so I am sitting being anti-social at the airport with my nose in my iPad ....but another daily painting is loaded! Two weeks of traveling and keeping up my daily painting is going to be interesting.....

If you would like to follow my journey visually ....follow me on Instagram at heidishedlock

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Tomatoes on the shelf #271

Daily painting #271. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

The house is stocked up with food for people and furry children alike! Time to pack some bags now....nothing like leaving your packing to the night before (and it's late and way past my bedtime!).

I thought I would share with you 2 paintings I will be taking to London for someone. They are the first shoes of her little twin boys who have just turned 2! These are sitting ready and waiting to be packed into my (still in the top cupboard) suitcase....

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Furry children #270

Daily painting #270 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

After saying goodbye to Ross at the airport today I started to tackle my long TO DO list again! The last few days I have been preoccupied with getting Ross all packed up and ready to leave and I haven't even given a thought to getting the rest of us packed up and ready to travel, let alone stocking the house up with food for Patrick (and grannies) who will be looking after our house and our furry babies while we are away! I only had time for a VERY quick painterly sketch in the studio today as I tried to gather paints, tidy up and prepare to pack what I need to continue daily painting while I travel! My most loyal studio companion and beautiful furry baby Noo-Noo who rarely leaves my side was a perfect model! He is a rescue baby and very precious to me! He was on deaths doorstep at 4 weeks old after being taken away from his mother (by a pet shop) too young. He was severely dehydrated, not having drunk since leaving his mother(he didn't know how to lap) and  the vet thought he would never make it. After lots of complications, 2 hourly feeds from his new Mommy (me!) and lots of TLC (he cuddled into my neck and didn't move for almost 2 weeks) ....he managed to pull through! We have a very special bond and I love him dearly! Now that I have got over my 'Mommy panic' at saying goodbye to Ross at the airport, I am now feeling 'mommy panic' at leaving my furry babies (we have another cat and 2 beautiful dogs) behind .....shew I will be glad to board the plane and start to enjoy myself....too much 'Mommy' emotion for one week!

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Last of the afternoon sun #269

Daily painting #269. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Today was my little (actually not so little at almost 5.8ft and size 10 shoe) man's last day on African soil for the next 2 and a bit weeks! Tomorrow is full of possibility and adventure for him! He leaves with 14 other team mates on a cricket tour that these boys will remember for the rest of their lives! How very privileged they are to be going to the UK to play cricket against some amazing schools. They will also be spending some time in London together as a team....what fun they are going to have! I feel quite emotional tonight to think that this time tomorrow my 13 year old will have headed off independent of his parents and will be hovering in a plane somewhere over Africa right now. He really has grown wings and tomorrow he will truly leave the nest. Our time with our children is so precious....time so fleeting ....and I suddenly feel like where have all the years gone by? My little man is taking his first real step as an independent little being....and I wish him all the love (and BEST times) in the world! Safe travels 'little' man....you make us so proud!

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The tiny key....#268

Daily painting #268. Pen, ink and watercolor on A5 watercolor paper

After wasting time searching for the keys to our travel locks and wasting even more time today going off to buy more locks.....I came across the little tiny keys accidentally!!! Murphy's law! Well now we are not short of suitcase locks .....or little tiny keys that are easy to loose!! Almost travel time....

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Not the key! #267

Daily painting #267. Pen, ink and watercolor on A5 watercolor paper

Ross, my 13 year old son, leaves with his team for the UK on cricket tour on Wednesday. We are following on Friday once my daughters school term has come to an end. I finished my last painting class at the end of last week and now have SO much to organize! I have had classes to teach, painting commissions to finish before I leave and not to mention keeping up my daily painting and running a very busy household, so the trip has crept up on me so quickly! I have left much of the organization of this trip to the last minute! I wasted so much time yesterday trying to find the keys to our travel locks for our bags.....in South Africa I wouldn't dream of climbing on a plane without locking my bags. Of course I found every spare key (most of them I have no idea what they are for....) except the little keys I was looking for! So another thing to add to my TO DO list tomorrow is buying travel locks for the bags.....locks with no keys needed...although chances are I will probably forget the combination code....mmmmm! My head is in a spin with all there is to do....

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Last rose #266

Daily painting #266. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

This is the last rose from a beautiful bunch I bought last week. The rest of the bunch have all started loosing their petals and wilting off but this little rose may still last for a few days in a little vase. I won't be buying anymore fresh flowers for the house....we leave for the UK this week! My son leaves on Wednesday a few days before us so there is LOADS of excitement in this house at the moment!!

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Big butter avocado #265

Daily painting #265. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Today I am 100 days away from completing 365 paintings in 365 days!! A whole year of little daily paintings.....almost!!

I love avocados ....we eat them all the time and yes I am one of those stupid people that pay crazy prices for them at times because I just can't resist!!! They are normally the much smaller hard skinned avos that we find in the shops but this week my Mum bought me some of our local grown big butter avos straight off of a tree. Many homes in Durban have large avo trees growing in their garden....sadly not mine! As can be expected straight from the tree, these avocados were delicious .....just nothing like them! They are smooth, creamy and just so full of flavor. I could eat them breakfast, lunch and supper....and now I have painted them too! 

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Winter sun #264

Daily painting #264. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

I promise not to bore you with too many 'chocolate box' sunrise paintings but the mornings on the East Coast have been so beautiful lately that I just want to share! This is what I wake up to everyday, the most awesome view over the ocean....it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world!
As I said yesterday, this has to be the most soulful way to start the day!

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Sun or clouds? #263

Daily painting #263. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

A battle on the horizon of bright penetrating sunlight and low lying heavy cloud....what will this winters day bring?
This has to be my best way to start the day ....no therapy could beat it! Soaking up such beauty in the company of my paints and brushes. Oh and a good cup of coffee made by my husband ....

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(Almost not a ...) Spoon No. 3 #262

Daily painting #262. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Today was one of those days....not a moment to spare and the only time I spent in the studio was for my Painting class in the morning! Thereafter I rushed off to a hockey match which my son, Ross was involved in. We are also hosting 2 boys from Bishops School in the Cape. They are in KwaZulu Natal on a 10 day (but only with us for 1 night) sports and cultural tour and their first stop was to play hockey against our boys. So having 2 extra hungry and busy boys in the house kept me on my toes today! It was only once they finally went off to bed that I managed to sneak into my studio with a giant kitchen serving spoon (my day revolved around serving food to hungry teenage boys) that I managed to paint. The randomness of the object and the fact that sometimes sitting down to paint has to be a choice you make or else everything just takes over kind of encapsulates what daily painting is all about for me....the focus is not on what you paint...it's on the fact that you made the choice to paint at all even when it would have been easier to 'leave it for tomorrow'.....

The amazing thing is that as tired as I felt and as grumpy as I was with myself (coupled with the fact that I was resisting painting at all), once I sat down and lost myself in the brush marks and paint.....it just felt right!

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One yellow blossom #261

Daily painting #261. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

These yellow rose heads have opened up into full heavy blossoms and they will probably only last another day or so until the petals start to drop.....so into my studio one last time!

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Three matches and a happy Dad #260

Daily painting #260. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Today was Father's Day and Fathers Day in our house just wouldn't be a celebration unless of course my husband was able to celebrate in typically South African fashion with a braai. For those of you new to my blog a braai is South African version of a barbecue only no gas barbecues.....the cooking has to happen over hot coals and flame! My husband loves nothing better than to crack open an ice cold beer, stoke up his fire and toss and turn and nibble off of the meat cooking over the coals. So yesterday in celebration of Fathers Day the charcoal was out, the matches laying about and the fire was roaring.....and we had a happy Dad! I hope all the special Daddy's out there had an awesome day too....!! We love you madly Andrew Shedlock and I am so grateful for everything you bring to our little family. You are a wonderful role model to our kids and your love is immeasurable....thank you!

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Yellow roses #259

Daily painting #259. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Something different....I don't normally choose yellow roses if I am going to buy them for home but these are quite pretty!  

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Winter glow #258

Daily painting #258. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel 

Another beautiful glowing winter evening sky! The warm glow in the sky defying the chill that is in the air....

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Winter aloe flowers #257

Daily painting #257. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Winter time and all the aloes are starting to flower and burst with color. Such beautiful succulents that just add a bit of fiery brightness to winter gardens....they really are beautiful! The studio I use for Art classes is outside my main home. Close to this studio there is a patch of sloping garden which had become a sandpit for my dogs! They had dug up every blade of grass and loved nothing better than to send clods of muddy sand through the studio windows as they dug tunnels to goodness only knows where! Well in an attempt to end their sport of digging and save the muddy bank from landing up in my studio when the September October rains arrive, we have planted some hardy aloes in the area with a few prickly ones to try teach the dogs to avoid this area. A few of them have been dug up already and some of the smaller ones simply trampled over but a few really hardy ones have stood their ground and this week 2 of them have burst into flower....yippee!!!! Hopefully by next winter the area will be a mass of orange fiery flowers....and no dogs! But of course the dogs have found a new place to dig......(sigh!!!!)

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Facing south #256

Daily painting #256. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Durban winter skyline....facing south at 4 pm. Loving this chilly (not so chilly unless you live in Durban) weather.....and with it comes the most amazing light, gentle warm sunshine and stunning skies!

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Protea #255

Daily painting #255. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Not the usual tone of protea that I buy, but this week I felt like something different...... I hope you like it as much as I do! I think I will be buying this color protea more often I actually really like it!

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Moth No.3 #254

Daily painting #254. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Found head down on my downstairs veranda.....I nudged him gently with my finger hoping he would flutter away....but he didn't! So still and perfectly formed.....

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Feathered friends #253

Daily painting #253 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Yesterday within seconds of fulling up the bird feeder on my bedroom veranda, my little feathered friends were lining up to feast!! I am amazed at how close I can get to them if I am really still! Any sudden movements and they flurry off in a mass of feathers and flapping! Only to appear again a few seconds later. There is no shortage of feathered house guests when the feeder is full....

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Purple Fynbos #252

Daily painting #252. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Fynbos is an Afrikaans derived word that refers to the floral species that grows in the winter rainfall area of the Western Cape. This floral species is so diverse with over 9000 varieties. I love the natural vegetation of the Cape and the colors and textures of the mountain side and hill sides. It also has a rather particular smell which just reminds me of the beautiful Cape....

I won't be returning to Cape Town until April next year which feels like a lifetime away so yesterday I bought home some of this beautiful fynbos for the table on my veranda. I went off to buy proteas from the flower market but couldn't resist these too!

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Rose in a blue and white pot #251

Daily painting #251. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

The last rose left from the bunch I painted a few days ago. I have cut it down, placed it in a pretty little pot and it is sitting on my bathroom shelf.....
 The cold weather has finally arrived, along with the snow inland ....and some amazing morning skies!!! I wondered this morning, while driving home from school drop offs, how many people were even noticing the amazing morning sky as they rushed about their morning business.....

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Granny's sugar spoon #250

Daily painting #250. A5 watercolor paper, pen ink and watercolor

Towards the end of the month I will be leaving for the UK to join my son who is going on a Cricket Tour of a lifetime to play against some amazing schools in and around London. My husband, daughter and I will be watching a few of the games however I hope to spend some time in London visiting some of my favorite paintings in the galleries there and top of my list is to visit the National Portrait Gallery to see this years BP Portrait exhibition which opens the evening we leave South Africa! I have not been back to London since living there nearly 17 years ago and so I am excited beyond measure!!! My daughter has never travelled to London and so the excitement in the house at the moment is HUGE!!!! My only dilemma (besides leaving my animals for nearly 2 weeks) is how to continue with my daily paintings while I am away ....I am so close to painting a whole year of little daily paintings and I don't want to stop now! I always travel with a little journal to draw in and yesterday I pulled out my pens, inks and watercolors which I also love to travel with as they are light, not so messy and easy to carry around with you. There is nothing traditional about the way I work with them but they are fun and easy to work with when you are on the move! BUT.....how can I survive nearly 2 weeks with no oil paint....!!!!! Mmmmm .....traveling around with wet oil panels is a pain but I know I am going to kick myself when there is something I want to paint and I don't have them there!!!! What to do......?!!!!

And just for the record for those of you who read yesterday's post....the snow inland is apparently on its way tonight and the temperature here at the coast has dropped nearly 15 degrees....so maybe winter hasn't forgotten about us after all!

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Cold front coming.... #249

Daily painting #249. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Cape Town (the most southern province in South Africa) has been experiencing really cold weather and there is talk of the cold front moving up the coast towards Durban. Snow has been predicted over our Drakensberg  mountain range (no snow obviously for us here on the coast only huge temperature drops) and people are frantically booking this weekend away in the mountains in the hopes of snow....!!!! So this morning when the sun squeezed its way up under the heavy blanket of cloud I thought perhaps the cold front was finally here. Definitely not ....it has been a sweltering hot day with temperatures at 2 pm this afternoon still hovering around 33 degrees Celsius (sorry no idea what that is in Fahrenheit ). Although KwaZulu Natal winters are really mild and snow inland is a huge novelty, at this rate it feels as if winter might be giving us a miss this year! We are still wearing summer clothes and sandals with a light jersey (cardigan) on in the mornings and early evenings in Durban. No boots, scarves or jackets yet! Crazy weather .....climate change is happening!!!!

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Floral companions #248

Daily painting #248. 6" x8" oil on primed canvas panel

These soft pink beauties are keeping the plums, cherries and other obliging still life models company on the shelf in my studio....together they all make quite a beautiful arrangement of color!

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Two plums #247

Daily painting #247. 6" x8" oil on primed canvas panel

No one in my house is getting to eat these delicious plums because they have not left my studio. I love the rich ruby tones in them ....they look so good sitting up on my shelf! I wish I had a way of preserving their beauty other than with paint, that way I could keep them there to enjoy! Such juicy rich royal color!

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Comrades Day 2014 #246

Daily painting #246. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

As the sun sets in a golden sky this evening I am humbled by what is one of South Africa's biggest road running races ....the Comrades Marathon. As the sun is setting some runners are only just completing their race after starting out on the road this morning at 5.30 am to complete a distance of  89,28 kilometers (about roughly 57 miles....I think).  The runners run a route from Pietermaritzburg (inland) down towards the coastline to Durban....it is a grueling race with lots of hills and probably one of the toughest mental challenges these athletes will ever face. Thousands of people participate and many overseas athletes rate it as one of the best races in the world to participate in. I think this has less to do with the challenge of the race and everything to do with the atmosphere of sportsmanship, camaraderie and fellowship that this race brings out in the athletes. Thousands of supporters line the route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban to encourage the athletes along the way and provide refreshments. The atmosphere is amazing and I find it so emotional! My family laugh at me every year as I sit bleary eyed, tears streaming down my face watching people help fellow athletes, arm in arm to reach that finish line. Runners picking fellow athletes up off the ground when that finish line is in sight and yet their legs just will not move any longer.....athletes risking medal cut offs to help others cross that line! And my worst .....those brave athletes who have run the 89 kilometers and have the finish line in sight but just don't make it over before the gun goes off at a cut off time of 12.30 hours! My golly.....my nerves are shot watching the finish on the television and I salute all those athletes who crossed that line today (and those who didn't) and especially those that spoke words of encouragement or assisted in a way that helped someone find the will to carry on....you are all champions! I am blown away by the reminder again of the strength of human determination and how if we set our minds to something....anything is possible!

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Plums with blue and white #245

Daily painting #245. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

I love the way the juicy rich (almost royal) color of the plums is offset by the subtle tones of neutral and blue. I get such joy from working with paint and the richness and magic of color!

This weekend one of the little paintings were reserved in advance by one of my loyal Paintings in the post followers to celebrate a special friends 50th birthday! If you know you have a special day coming up like a birthday or an anniversary and would like to reserve the painting that will be painted on a particulate date and have some input into what you would like painted, I would be happy to oblige. Recently another Paintings in the post collector received a hand rendered voucher from some of her friends to spend on little paintings, so if you are not sure what a friend might like but would like to give the gift of a painting....a hand rendered voucher might be what you are looking for! I have also recently sent off a little painting as a wedding gift with a special message enclosed for the bride and groom! I love the fact that a little painting can be even more special to receive when given as a gift or to serve as a reminder of a special day!

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