Exam roses #348

Daily painting #348. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel 

My beautiful little 11 year old girl Amy is doing her ballet exam tomorrow. It is the last exam before she can get her point shoes which is a HUGE thing for any little girl who loves ballet! She practices walking on the tips of her toes in eager anticipation of those point shoes! Clearly I have not a single ballet dancers gene in me....I can think of nothing worse than my toes all squashed up in ballet shoes and my whole body weight balancing (I wouldn't be able to balance) on them...my poor toes!!

So a beautiful bunch of roses for my beautiful ballerina. To wish her luck....tell her we love her ....and remind her of just how beautiful we think she is ....with all our love Ross, Mum and Dad!
You will rock that exam my angel!

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Orchid time #347

Daily painting #347. 6"x8. Oil on primed canvas panel

My orchids I have to admit are quite neglected. Other than the occassional water, they don't receive any special orchid food or any special treatment despite the fact that I am told by many that orchids are quite temperamental! Clearly the trick is to have them growing in just the right spot...and I have discovered one, by sheer accident I might add! I have noticed that all of a sudden my orchids are not only full and heavy with buds again but they are also full of flowers! When did this happen and have I really been just that neglectful that I haven't noticed until now?
I saw a lovely little piece of writing today via a social network site and just had to share it with you...

Thank you Tyler Knott Gregson for the reminder! In the bigger picture who cares that the orchids are neglected (I just don't have time in the day for feeding orchids quite frankly) but I do plan to make an effort to enjoy the beautiful flowers that they are blessing me with! And I am definitely going to remind myself to 'swim'!

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Aloe #346

Daily painting #346. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

A school friend of mine whose Mum was in the very same hospital my Mum was in only a few weeks ago, passed away this week. There is such heartache in loosing someone you love...quite possibly the worst feeling in the whole world! It's left me thinking this week of life, loved ones and how precious this time we have is. My Dad passed away a while ago and not long after that my husband lost his Dad too...it was an emotional time and hearing of someone loosing one of their parents brings floods of emotions right back up there again! A special friend and kind soul gave me a beautiful big aloe to plant in my garden when my Dad passed away. My Dad and I were not as close as we should have been, my parents got divorced when I was 3 years old and the rest is a complicated story ....but the aloe stands in my garden and I can't help glancing in its direction each time I pass....

On the morning that my old school friend's Mum passed away there was a slight drizzle of desperately needed rain. Her words were simply..."my Mum has gone and she has sent us rain..." 

I thought that was beautiful! 

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Cucumber #345

Daily painting #345. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

The days are getting warmer and more humid....and so are the evenings! Summer is on its way! Just the right time of year to get back into eating delicious cold salads for supper....yum! Fortunately for me my kids love raw salad type veggies and so I love making all varieties of yummy salad type suppers. A much healthier way of eating and quite frankly....I could do with it! 

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End of the weekend #344

Daily painting #344 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

We have had boys staying with us from Johannesburg who were participating in the Inter-prep School's Hockey Festival that my son and his school team were playing in. So it has been a busy  weekend of watching hockey and feeding hungry exhausted teenage boys! Hosting boys is always special. These boys form amazing friendships and next year as they all move on to different high schools (many of the Johannesburg boys are coming to boarding schools here in Natal), they will meet again on the sports fields, renewing friendships! 

After the boys had been sent off on their way to the airport we gathered on the veranda for some quality family time...and of course my husband HAD to braai (barbecue). I love lazy Sunday afternoons like this. We laugh and spend quality time together and recharge the batteries for the coming week. The weekend ended with beautiful pinky salmon evening skies and a glass of Chardonnay!

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Blue and white pot and blueberries #343

Daily painting #343. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel 

A little treasure from my studio shelf and some left overs from breakfast....blue on blue!

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Morning #342

Daily painting #342. 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Right, so firstly I have to just put it out there that this rates right up there on the scale of kitsch ....but I painted anyway to show you what has been greeting me each morning. The summer heat is fast approaching and the mornings are getting light early and quickly. The little birds are already sitting on the telephone wire outside my bedroom at first light waiting for the feeder to be full of food! It is the most delightful sight to wake up to....and I guess this is one of those moments that I tell my students about ....some images work better as photos than paintings! But I share paintings....and little snippets of my life ....so here it is in paint...rather kitsch but so what! Beautiful soft first light over the ocean and my little feathered friends! This is how I start my day....

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