Little clementines #288

Daily painting #288. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

The house is stocked up with food and flowers again after a tedious grocery shop and a slightly more pleasant trip to the market. The winter fruit selection is slightly more boring but these juicy sweet little clementines are a delicious sweet treat and a feast of color to paint on a chilly, grey winters afternoon in my studio. They are like little balls of sunshine to warm the soul...

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available daily paintings)

Opening bloom #287

Daily painting #287. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Another beautiful bloom from my mother-in-laws garden....and the scent is heavenly! I love the perfume of a rose....

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available daily paintings)

Early morning at home #286

Daily painting #286. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

It is amazing how a good nights sleep in your own bed can restore you! It was wonderful to wake up to the beautiful morning sky that we are blessed with seeing from our bedroom veranda each morning....we really do have the most spectacular morning view! It's like soul food to start the day! I was so inspired by the beautiful fiery skies of the Turner paintings in the Tate Gallery.....such emotion in his skies! Even my husband (who would normally avoid going to galleries altogether) was in awe!

Today is going to be a day of unpacking (possibly the worst part of having been away) and shopping for groceries to full the fridge and cupboards again. My husband no doubt will want to stoke up that fire and braai (barbecue) ....he is longing for his good old South African braai! At least one thing I won't have to do is cook....

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(Click on the highlighted writing to view gallery of available daily paintings)

Welcome home #285

Daily painting #285 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

Daily painting #284 blogpost has only just gone live now...I had no luck with the Heathrow free wireless ....but I am finally home!!!! After leaving Reigate about 24 hours ago and being awake for close on 29 hours ....we are finally home and I am determined to complete my daily painting before completely crashing into the deepest sleep in my own bed! Andrew took a sleeping tablet on the flight over and Amy who was exhausted slept on me....so I am feeling quite zombified right now but having managed to continue daily entries throughout my UK trip....I am not about to break my momentum now....perhaps I am overtired! So this post will go live in the morning....as usual ....and I will be back to some kind of daily routine. Can't wait to get into my studio tomorrow in the daylight, have a big clean up and spend some quality time in my heavenly little space! 

My kind mother-in-law dropped off some supper and a beautiful bunch of roses from her garden....I am SO grateful! Neither supper or what I was going to paint needed too much thought! The bunch of roses look and smell gorgeous....I will definitely have to paint them again! Perhaps after a good nights sleep! 

It is good to be home!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Last painting (cloud study) from my journal #284

Daily painting #284. Watercolor sketch from personal journal NFS

This will be the last little painting sketch I share from my own personal journal. Unfortunately with the strict customs control, traveling with wet oil paintings (besides being inconvenient) would just be a nightmare and so I have had no choice but to continue my little daily ritual by sharing with you snippets from my personal daily journal.....something I always travel with but rarely share! This was a quick cloud study early this morning. It was awful for many reasons .....now that it's home time, I am keen to get back to my studio and a little daily routine and I am ITCHING to get back to my oils...they are by far my favorite medium! Our bags were packed, except for last minute toiletries and of course my journal and watercolors. We planned to head off to the airport early so that we could see Ross before he left on his flight to South Africa. He was flying with his team mates and coaches an hour ahead of us. So now I am sitting at Heathrow Airport trying to sit out a looong wait before we can board. Tomorrow's painting will have to go live this evening as tomorrow morning I will still be in the air over Southern Africa....with a second connecting flight to Durban still to come! But we are homeward bound and as fabulous as our holiday has been....there really is no place like home!

Oh dear!!!! The post will have to go live once I am home and connected again....the Heathrow free wi-fi is sloooooowww and doesn't seem to want to load my post! Not surprising if I look around me there must be a million odd people all sitting at the airport connected! The post seems to take ages to load and then the connection cuts off and needs to be rebooted. My patience is now thin and it's almost time to go to our boarding gate ....so this one will have to go out tomorrow afternoon! How did we survive before wireless and internet.....we really do live in a crazy, busy, connected world! 

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

Grey skies #283

Daily painting #283 watercolor and ink pen in personal journal NFS

It's time to pack our bags and get ready to head on home...already! England you have been amazing...it was SO good to be back! We have been blessed with beautiful days, boys have been able to finish off cricket games at nearly 8pm in glorious sunshine! But grey clouds are looming over the rooftops ....just in time for us to head on home! Thank you London....I love this city!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

A little apple #282

Daily painting #282 pen, ink and watercolor in personal journal NFS

We played a cricket game at a lovely school called St Johns Beaumont. When we asked a parent for directions to the cricket field we were told...."find a parking, walk through the woods and at the foot of the hill you will find a cricket field"! Need I say more....the school grounds were breathtakingly beautiful! One of the parents on a walk around the school's stunning grounds found this little apple which must have fallen from a tree prematurely. Knowing I would be on the search for something to paint for my daily painting, she gave it to me. I carried it home in my hat and made a quick little painting sketch in my journal....

Sorry today's post is going out so late....the Wi-fi connection in the house we are staying in seems to crash occasionally when too many people are using it....not being my home I wasn't sure how to reset it so have had to wait until this evening for everything to be rebooted! No internet connection feels like my arm has been cut off......terrible! Oh well...better late than never!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art