Grapes...remnants of a school lunchbox #391

Daily painting #391 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel 

Packing school lunches in the morning is the most mundane of tasks. I am always trying to find different things to give my children for lunch....rather than the same old boring sandwiches. You will probably think my children are spoilt and you will probably be thinking they should be making their own lunch, but my daughter has to be careful about her wheat intake and my son often only finishes school after 5pm if he has sport. So I like to make sure they have nice nutritious lunches. You can't run an engine on an empty tank! I do however usually make them clean out their own lunch boxes and water bottles but today I happened to do it for them. These are the remains of left over lunch....

I love school holidays and having a break from the early morning chore of making lunches....roll on another school holiday....at least it's the weekend!

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Pincushion protea #390

Daily painting #390 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

A pretty little pincushion, named so for obvious reason. They belong to the protea family and can be found in shades of yellow, oranges and deep coral. I have one single stem sitting in a vase in my studio. It reminds me of a little ball of fire...

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Protea star #389

Daily painting #389 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

A large protea which has opened up completely ....like a giant star! It is almost the size of a dinner plate and is quite beautiful! Not the nicest shape to paint but wanted to share it with you...

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Let it rain.... #388

Daily painting #388 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

I painted early this morning because I knew I wasn't going to find time later in the day. I was teaching a painting class and then directly afterwards heading off to a day/night school cricket game that my son was playing in, in Pietermaritzburg (about an hour inland from Durban). I really didn't feel like driving home late at night (the game was scheduled to finish at about 9.30pm) on a notoriously accident prone road. There was also rain forecast for later in the evening and I was hoping we were not going to travel to the game only for it to be called off! So I sat painting secretly willing (my son would be mad with me) the small cluster of rain clouds on the horizon to head our way sooner rather than later! But as Murphy's Law would have it, the game went ahead only for it to be called off at about 8.30 with only a few overs to go because of the rain! So the game wasn't finished after all ...those clouds arrived a little later than I had hoped but at least we did get to head on home a bit earlier and the boys did enjoy some cricket even if the game was called off. The down side is that I know I am going to have one grumpy and VERY tired pre-teen in the morning who after school is going to have to be cajoled into learning for exams.....wish me luck!

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Mini bunch #387

Daily painting #387 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel 

A little painting sketch of some roses from the market. Some open blooms and a few buds. Wish I could tell you they came from my garden but that would be wishful on my part!

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At my window #386

Daily painting #386 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

I haven't spent much time in my studio over the last few days other than to complete my daily painting. I have had such flu that I have been climbing into my bed at every opportunity and working on my laptop. I am putting together a printed journal, in book form, of my 365 days of daily painting for my exhibition which opens on the 30th October. So if you have messaged me or emailed me and I haven't got back to you....apologies ...I will tackle all my mail tomorrow when I am hopefully feeling a bit better! 

We have had huge rain and gusty winds lately so I had removed the bird feeders so that they did not get damaged in the strong wind. I was dreading going into my studio today. I felt feverish and didn't want to move from my bed! As for what to paint for my daily painting....well I simply had no idea today which is probably why I didn't feel like facing my daily painting either! But I dragged myself off to my studio anyway and am so glad I did!!!! My little feathered friends had gathered outside my studio and immediately started creating a fuss when they realized I was there. The rain had stopped and there was still no feeder outside. They flapped, fussed and chirped until I opened my studio door. They then all flurried away in a mass of feathers and fluttering. I placed the bird feeder out and watched from my studio as they feasted .....where had I been....and where was the food? What a big fuss they were making....

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Strawberry whirl biscuits #385

Daily painting #385 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Strawberry whirls were my favourite biscuits as a kid! When my mum would buy a box of Bakers Assorted biscuits I would always reach for these first (and secretly hope no one else would do the same). I bought a box of Strawberry Whirls when we had a house full of kids visiting and I laughed when I noticed them eating the biscuit round so that they were left with just the strawberry centre....I used to do exactly the same thing! Needless to say the box was finished in a flash, except for the one I saved to paint. I had to take a bite first...it made the painting more interesting and to be honest, I couldn't resist!

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