Little magestic sky #413

Daily painting #413 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

My children finished their end of year exams this week and today my son played his last official cricket game for his school. His last official game of primary school cricket! In just 2 weeks he will be a high school boy! I can't believe it! So after a busy few weeks, this afternoon we relaxed at home and enjoyed a 'chilled' evening together on our veranda. The sky was majestic....bidding the day farewell with bold colours and a real display! Of course my husband was also watching the Springboks playing rugby against England at Twickenham ....

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(Click on the highlighted writing to view the gallery of available daily paintings)

Weekend protea #412

Daily painting #411 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

I haven't bought any proteas for the house in a while! But it's the weekend and the summer weather is here....and I plan to spend lots of time relaxing on our veranda. I have no doubt my husband will be lighting the fire for a braai (South African barbecue)! A little protea just brightens up the veranda table. 

My children have finished writing their end of year exams and I feel a summer holiday on the horizon....have a fabulous weekend everyone!

The online store reopened today (with some fabulous prices) so be sure to pop over to the store at www.paintingsinthepost.tictail.com and check out all the available daily paintings! 

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Blue shoes #411

Daily painting #411. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel. SOLD

My favourite blue shoes at the moment....and 2 of my favourite colours!

The Paintings in the post exhibition closes today and what a wonderful 2 weeks it has been! I have been overwhelmed by the support and enthusiasm for my Paintings in the post project! Thank you to everyone who took the time to visit the exhibition and to those of you who purchased a little painting...thank you! May it bring you great joy for many years to come. A huge thank you to Lisa and Alaine at GALLERY 415. You have been an amazing support and I have huge gratitude for your efforts, your encouragement and your friendship!

The Paintings in the post online store will reopen tomorrow ....and it's business as usual. Local South African buyers can contact me directly for prices in ZAR but all available daily paintings can be viewed in the store by clicking on the highlighted writing at the end of each post or clicking on the rainbow shop icon on the Paintings in the post page.

Have a happy weekend!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(The online store will reopen tomorrow, Saturday)

Chocolate chip #410

Daily painting #410 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

Chocolate chip biscuits for my painting class tomorrow. Served during a well earned morning tea break....well that is if the chocolate chip biscuits survive my family tucking into them first!

I might need a back up plan for a tea time treat!

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(The Paintings in the post online store will reopen on Saturday after the closing of the paintings in the post exhibition

Over the ocean #409

Daily painting #409 4"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

I sat this afternoon on my upstairs veranda overlooking the ocean, painting and thinking for the first time in a long while how hard life in South Africa can be! I thought of all my friends and family who have left, and there are many! Today as my husband was fetching my daughter early from school for her dance exam, police and criminals opened fire on one another just outside my daughters school and only slightly ahead of my husband who was turning into the school. This is a residential area with 3 schools in this road and at the time all the children were outside enjoying their morning break. I couldn't help but think about all the 'what ifs'! Thank goodness my husband was safe and thank goodness no stray bullets hit any innocent people or children. Crime is high in South Africa and it does make life more stressful if you allow it to. So I try to be positive, find blessings in small things and be grateful at every opportunity. Thank goodness 2 of the 3 criminals where caught (the 3rd high jacked another vehicle and got away)  and thank goodness my family are unharmed. Thank goodness the police were trying to be proactive and thank goodness none of them were harmed either! Somedays life has a way of making us sit up and be thankful for small mercies. Many of my friends who have left SA believe it is not normal to live with such high crime and violence but this is our 'normal' and for those of us who live here we have to remain positive and hopeful....there just is no other way! Gratitude and positive hearts have to be your constant companions!
That being said, life in Africa is not for the faint hearted!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(The online Paintings in the post store will reopen over the weekend once the exhibition closes)

Looking up #408

Daily painting #408. 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

I would love to tell you that I was lying on the ground looking up at the clouds ....playing those imaginary games that children do....finding shapes in the clouds and making up stories and scenes as the clouds passed by (you did do that as a child right?)...

But instead I was sitting in my nice warm studio looking up out of the window! Today was one of those days when grey clouds hovered and the occasional bit of light pushed through only to be obliterated again by the looming heavy rain clouds. It was one of those days when you carry an umbrella all day in anticipation but nothing seems to happen...

Well as I am writing this evening, the rain is now finally falling outside even though the dark clouds have been teasing all day. The sound and smell of rain are one of my favourite things....

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art
(The online store will reopen over the weekend once the Paintings in the post exhibition closes)

Rose pot and cherries #407

Daily painting #407 6"x6" oil on primed canvas panel

 For the first time ever I managed to delete my entire blogpost while trying to load it this morning!!! I could just weep...and have no idea what I carried on about ( I seemed to write a lot last night). I do recall mentioning that to let good cherries go to waste would be criminal...these were found at the bottom of my paint box after a very hurried tidy up at the gallery on Saturday morning. After a night in my paintbox they definitely weren't fit for consumption... but I could paint them again!
I also shared my daughters little painting. She loves art materials as much as I do so she has her own supplies (so that she doesn't touch mine) including a traveling paintbox with a limited palette of oil paints. Yesterday she joined me on the veranda to paint, set up a nectarine and a cherry and painted for half an hour, with little guidance and sheer enjoyment! At only 11 years old she has the potential to be a way better still life painter than her mamma!
Well here's to a good week...what a way to start a Monday morning deleting my entire blogpost...a comedy of errors...or perhaps I am just a technological idiot!

Purchase paintings at Heidi Shedlock Fine Art

(The Paintings in the post online store will reopen this weekend with all the new little paintings that were not exhibited.)