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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Geraldton #341

Daily painting #341 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel

My new studio space is slowly starting to take shape and I am hoping to move in soon! Just a bit of painting and touch ups to do but I can't wait to move into my new creative space! The studio doors open up onto a patio area in my garden and I have been starting to plant some 'pretties' in this area....plants that my dogs won't eat! This space on the patio used have loads of herbs growing there but when my dogs (then puppies) arrived, the herbs were quickly demolished and the area became a permanent snacking ground for them! Today I bought this Geraldton Wax bush to plant there....it has a dainty little light flower and beautiful rich little red buds and the leaves are quite spiky....a bit like a Rosemary leaf so I am hoping the dogs will leave it alone!

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Afternoon #340

Daily painting #340. 5"x7" oil on primed canvas panel

I didn't have much time to paint today! I taught a painting class in the morning, had a busy afternoon of hockey matches, ballet exam rehearsals and other activities that I ferried my children around to and in the evening I had some high school girls coming to the studio to do a bit of extra work...shew! So I had to squeeeeeze in a moments breathing space and painting time in the late afternoon, early evening. That time of day when the light is changing to golden, the birds are coming to sit on the telephone wire and the monkeys are finding a resting place in the trees....that time of the day when the 'manic spin' of a busy day is starting to unwind and slow down....the perfect time to enjoy a bit of breathing space!

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Smith's beach #339

Daily painting #339. 6"x8" oil on primed canvas panel SOLD

Today's daily painting is very different. Firstly I always paint my daily paintings plein air (on site) or from life (the object in front of me) and when I do paint from photos (not for daily paintings) they are usually always my own. But today's little painting is of a beach, Smith's Beach in Australia....and obviously I am not in Australia! I was asked to paint it as a daily painting by a South African friend who now lives in Australia. I have a couple of South African friends who now live there ....and a couple of my paintings living there too....I really need to visit! So this little painting too will be traveling to Australia and it fills me with joy that it will remind a family of a special place...special times...and happy memories! After all that is what life is all about...the places we go, the people we treasure and the memories we make.... 

(I do think I need to visit Smith's beach after seeing the photos!)

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Spring bunch #338

Daily painting #338. 8"x10" oil on primed canvas panel

Today's daily painting is slightly bigger than my normal postcard size daily paintings, for no other reason than I just felt like working a bit bigger today! You will also be forgiven for thinking that I am a day late in wishing my Southern Hemisphere friends "happy Spring" but what I paint today, I write about tonight and will post tomorrow morning ...so this was yesterday's (first day of spring) painting, although the weather felt nothing like spring! It was about 21 degrees by lunchtime but still chilly in the morning and the evening...chilly by our standards but probably considerably warm for some northern hemisphere climates. 

Spring always gives one the sense of new beginnings, fresh starts and rejuvenation. September is going to be a good month for me! Not only is it Spring, but I will take part in the Leslie Saeta 30/30 challenge, I will be turning 40 years old on the 23rd and a few days later I will have completed my goal of painting a whole years worth of little daily paintings! Lots to celebrate! Happy September! Happy Spring!

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