No more school shoes #621

Daily painting #621 5"x5" oil on primed canvas panel

My son only finishes his school year next week and is currently away on a school adventure camp. But my daughter finishes her school year today....and so do I! Our summer holidays begin today and it is an awesome feeling! My classroom days are over for a season in my life and I can't wait to have more time in my studio. My daughter has just finished off her Grade 6 year and next year will start her final year of primary school. My son has just 4 more years left of school....how can that be possible? In South Africa our children finish school at 18 years old. That means he will be able to drive a car, cast his vote at election time and be able to leave home to go to university. Gosh I am jumping away with myself here but time really does seem to march along a little too fast for me and I can't keep up! But for today I will be glad that summer holidays have arrived...goodbye school days....and hello summer.

And just for the record....goodbye school shoes! They are battered, worn and falling apart but have served Amy well this year! I officially retire you!

P.S. Our children in South Africa wear strict school uniforms and this type of black shoe commonly known as Bata Toughies (yes they are tough, uncomfortable, hard leather instruments of foot torture) are standard school shoe requirements!

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Exams #620

Daily painting #620 5"x5" oil on primed canvas panel

The last two weeks have been a crazy time in our house. Both of my children have been writing their end of year exams (in South Africa our school year ends in December and starts in January), and I have been marking practical work and Visual Art exam papers. It's been busy to say the least and like any exam period although you try to keep stress levels to a minimum, it's always a tense time of year!

 My daughter finished exams a few days earlier and my son has finally written his last paper. I have managed to get all my pupil's marks correlated and am about to retire my red marking pens! I have marked my last Visual Art theory exam for a while I hope. Next year I will no longer be teaching Visual Art in a school environment and will only teach 3 morning painting classes from a studio at home. The rest of the time I plan to spend more time in my own studio painting and hopefully doing more daily painting too. This year has been a hectically busy year and it took falling down a flight of stairs in April and breaking my ankle and leg to realize that I needed to slow down. There really is no such thing as part time teaching....it consumes 150% of my energy...it's just what I do! But in order to give, its important to keep replenishing ones own 'stock' or else you end up having very little to give. My creative cup is almost running on empty and so it's time to refocus and replenish in order to be able to give again. I will certainly miss my interaction with the girls I have taught this year, it has been so rewarding. When a pre-teen arrives on a Monday to show you a drawing they worked on all weekend, you know you have given someone a gift they will cherish forever and more importantly you have made them believe that they could do something they never thought they could. I know I have inspired a few little souls to a lifetime of new experiences, joy and soul searching through art....and that gives me great pleasure! I hate goodbyes and so I choose to see this not as a 'goodbye' to classroom teaching but a new season of renewal in my own studio....and the journey can begin now that exams are finally over!

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Two figs #619

Daily painting #619 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Figs in Durban are just ridiculously expensive and so I don't buy them often, but more as a treat! I bought a small pack of four and the first two didn't last very long! The last two weren't going to sit around for long either so I took them into my studio to paint first....might as well get my money's worth out of them and I do love the deep purple tones and the contrasting blue lights....and just for the record they tasted delicious too! 

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Buds #618

Daily painting #618 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Plump little buds waiting to burst open and flourish....full of potential beauty. 

It's Monday...the week is full of potential beauty....

Have a fabulous week!

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Mulberries #617

Daily painting #617 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel 

Once a week I get a box of organic fruit and vegetables from a local certified organic farm. I like to support our local farmers who quite frankly are having a hard time at the moment with drought. We have had so little rain that our province has been declared a state of emergency due to the massive water shortage and low dam levels. I have such respect for our local farmers and wish more people would support local....anyway....enough preaching (hehehe)!

This week I was delighted to find a little container of mulberries tucked into my bounty. Mulberries brought back childhood memories of raiding mulberry trees to feed silkworms...of sweet juicy berries that popped in your mouth or squished under your feet....of bright pink stained fingers and sticky pink juice stains that patterned your hands. I haven't seen or tasted mulberries in ages! They have taken pride of place this week on top of dollops of creamy Greek yoghurt, the bright pinky purple juice trickling into the white yoghurt to create patterns almost too pretty to eat. They have also been mixed into smoothies, creating a purple delicious mixture of goodness. I can't quite decide whether it's been the juicy little berries or their black/purple/pink colours that have intrigued me most, but I do hope there will be more next week!

Today is the last day for the FREE POSTAGE birthday offer, so place your order before midnight 31st October. Click on the link below to view available paintings.

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Sketchbooks, exploring and a little inspiration. #616

Daily painting #616 pen, watercolour on card

This little rose took me literally 5 minutes! It was painted as a little demonstration in my painting class. This week I have been inspiring the ladies to draw more and spend more time working, playing, messing and exploring in their sketchbooks or journals. 

We have a long December holiday coming up soon and very often with the Christmas and New Year rush many of my art students don't find much time to paint. As many of them work in oils, one needs not only the space to work but the time to get organized and clean up if you do not have a studio space at home. Working in your sketchbooks means little to clean up and if you organize your materials well, you can be exploring and 'making' within minutes and it's easy and quick to pack away. The materials are also easy to take away on holiday with you! I shared not only my tips for packing up a little traveling kit but I also shared some of my favourite sketchbook artists with them. These artists work in a variety of styles and mediums, using varied techniques. Many of the ladies had not explored with watercolours so I introduced them to the medium and a number of ways that one can 'play' with them in your sketchbook. Draw....draw....draw....is my mantra! One can never draw enough, so if you are reading this I hope you will be inspired to spend some time 'playing' in a sketchbook!

This little rose was the result of a very quick demonstration. I hope to see full sketchbooks soon!

Only 2 more days to make use of my 2nd birthday offer of FREE POSTAGE WORLDWIDE.

The offer ends at 12pm (South African time) on the 31st October (Saturday) ....visit my Tictail store to view all available daily paintings (click on the link below)

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Farm strawberries #615

Daily painting #615 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

Amy and I planted some strawberry plants in the garden in the school holidays. We love all berries in our house and they aren't the cheapest fruits to buy in South Africa so we decided it was time to cultivate some of our own. The odds however, are against us! We are currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in many years in South Africa and our coast is particularly hard hit with one of our local dams (which supplies most of the surrounding areas with water) being just under 20% full at the moment....quiet alarming! So the troop of Vervet Monkeys living in the trees surrounding our house are in the garden (braving my dogs) to scrounge for food because no rain means no food for them! Not only that but my one dog, George, has decided that strawberries taste quite delicious and being part of the family he intends to have his full share too!

So for now we keep buying strawberries! These little red gems are from a local organic farm up the North Coast. They are odd shaped and different sizes and not nearly as beautiful looking as the big plump (uniform size and shape) type found in the shops. But they are delicious, sweet, juicy and just the thing I hope we will be picking in the garden soon.....if the monkeys and George leave any for us! 

Oh and some rain.....yes some rain would just be the cherry (strawberry) on the top! 

Celebrate Paintings in the post 2nd birthday with FREE POSTAGE worldwide for the remainder of the month! So visit the online store by clicking on the link below to view all available daily paintings.

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