Jam doughnut #329

Daily painting #329. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Sugary, sticky, and slightly crisp with a great big dollop of glistening jewel-like sweet strawberry jam....like a giant beckoning ruby fixed in the middle.....this doughnut looked lethal! Amy (my daughter) and I had such fun browsing the bakery section at the market yesterday choosing a sugary treat to paint! It gave me license to look at all the cakes, tarts, pastries and other tempting fare that I would normally avoid with all my will power! Because I would never normally come home with something like this from the market there was great debate as to how one little doughnut was going to be fairly consumed  by the family...."why didn't you buy more mom?"

Well as luck would have it I bumped over my jar of turpentine when I was cleaning my brushes after painting and the doughnut got splattered....so no one got to eat it after all! Some things are just not meant to be eaten.....especially lethal sugary carbo-loaded (and greasy as I found out when I removed it after painting)  jam doughnuts.....even though they look so good!

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Protea #328

Daily painting #328. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

This week it is my Mum's birthday and our wedding anniversary ....a week of celebrations! Next weekend Andrew, the kids and I are off the our favorite little place down the South Coast, Pumula Beach to celebrate our 15th anniversary. So this weekend we are getting together to celebrate my Mums birthday! Of course my house is full of flowers and I am about to pull out the recipe books to decide which yummy cake to bake for the birthday girl!

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Water #327

Daily painting #327. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

This morning we woke to the sound and smell of rain! Finally....and it was heavenly! There really is nothing quite like the smell of rain after a dry period! I could almost hear the grass groaning with relief! It didn't last for too long but as I write this blog post we are experiencing the first huge thunderstorm of the season....electric blue lightening, cracking thunder and sheets of rain pouring down in what seems like solid glass panels falling from the sky and cutting into the earth...some areas have received warnings of hail! The saying 'it never rains but it pours' comes to mind in the literal sense...

Well Spring will definitely be on its way now....the weather is warming and with a bit of rain....the plants will rejuvenate and buds will start to form. Change is on the way....amazing what a little (actually not so little at the moment) bit of water can do....

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Papaya #326

Daily painting #326 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel 

Papaya....tomorrow mornings breakfast! The sweet smell and taste of summer! YUM!!

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Afternoon promise of rain #325

Daily painting #325. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Everything is dry....the monkeys were foraging in the trees next to our house today, desperate to find food but everything is dry and food is scarce. The weather has warmed up considerably and Spring is on the way but still no rain! We had an awful hot dry wind today which usually means a change of weather on the way. Big grey clouds were looming but nothing....they were just teasing ....making us long for the rain even more as we melted in the uncomfortable dry heat. The rain is coming.....just not today unfortunately!

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Morning #324

Daily painting #324. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

While you may not care to see too many 'sky paintings', I on the other hand could paint one every day! You see these little paintings actually have nothing to do with the final image and so much more to do with the experience of starting my day like this! To take time out to reflect at the start of the day and slow the pace down a bit before the business of the day consumes me, is just the best tonic! It is like topping up my inspiration tank for the day....the richest soul food...and I do love a good soul feast!

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Key #323

Daily painting #323. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

I have this disastrous relationship with keys!! I either can't find the one I am looking for or I am finding way too many spare keys and I have no idea what they are for....

We are busy doing a slight alteration downstairs to a space I can use as my own personal studio (my main studio outside I use for teaching and the space I use upstairs for my own work has just become too small). It has lovely double doors which can be opened onto the garden area but I can't find the keys to this door which hasn't been opened in ages. I was sure it was the little key hanging up near the door but this house is old and we have way too many keys, doors and locks....I am hoping that perhaps given the age of the door that perhaps the key is simply not working...either way it looks like I am going to have to add fixing the lock onto the TO DO list which seems to be growing daily!

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