Happy Anniversary !

Well, I'm still around and happy to report that I'm now slowly getting back into painting again after what seems like an age. The last few months have been quite exhausting and busy to say the least and I have really missed my painting. The World Cup Soccer has long passed and visitors have all safely returned home. My stepdaughter's wedding  in the USA went off wonderfully and I can safely say we are over our jet lag and ready for the final haul of 2010.

As I type, spring is about to pounce on us and have already noticed that some trees in my garden have started shooting. Sadly, I missed a few little Daffodils in my garden that came into bloom when I was away. Does this mark my 1st year anniversary of my blog? I remember my very first post on my blog, it was a photo of my first Daffodil of the year. Gosh how time flies!  It seems like it was yesterday! May I take this opportunity in thanking all my wonderful blogger friends who have so diligently popped in and left me inspiration and goodwill comments on my work over the past year. You guys are great, and I appreciate your time. THANK YOU!

I have the WSSA (Watercolour Society of South Africa) 84th National exhibition coming up in September and I need to get some paintings done to submit for it. Unfortunately, I have hit a blank wall for ideas at the moment so will have to really channel my energies into that over the next day or so. Wish me luck!

Lastly, What's a blog without an image.......? This painting I leave you with was a little bit of playing just before I left for the States. I have never tried this before and had so much fun creating it. I laid tissue paper in strips onto 300gsm watercolour paper with Gesso and washed watercolour pigments over the dried paper. The textures it made were quite inspiring. What came from it looks like crags and crevices with  foothills in the foreground. What do you say? Could this be somewhere in the Drakensberg mountain range in KwaZulu Natal? Anyway, wherever this painting takes you -  hope you enjoy it.

Have a wonderful week, what's left of it!

'The Berg'

While sifting through all my 'binners' or paintings I don't intend on finishing, I stumbled across a sheet of paper with a Diox and Aliz Crim wash on it. I think I started this as an experiment.... It was a sheet of Artist canvas (with Acrylic finish). You will notice on the enlarged version, the woven texture of the canvas.

I remember at the time thinking that the colours were a bit washed out and the pigment didn't run like it does on ordinary watercolour paper but gave it a try anyway. Seeing though it was an experiment I put it aside until I felt need to do something with it at some later stage. Needless to say.... 12 months later, I found it and this morning, through more colours in it. At first I had no idea what the washes represented and hadn't a clue on what I was to do with it, but after staring at it for some time..... a picture appeared in my mind.!

This is called 'The Berg' because it looks a lot like the Drakensberg mountains and terrain here in South Africa. Looking at the finished product now, makes me long to go back and just breath that wonderful crisp fresh air.

The Drakensberg mountains range is a  200-kilometre-long mountainous wonderland and world heritage site Aptly named 'Ukhahlamba', pronounced (ooka -lumba) (Barrier of Spears) by the Zulu people, and the Dutch Voortrekkers 'The Dragon Mountain'. The Drakensberg Mountains, with their awe-inspiring basalt cliffs, snowcapped in winter, tower over riverine bush, lush yellowwood forests and cascading waterfalls, form a massive barrier separating KwaZulu-Natal from the Kingdom of Lesotho, and are the tallest mountains in South Africa. The San bushmen were the original inhabitants of the Drakensberg mountains and they left behind the most beautiful paintings in caves throughout the region. The Drakensberg region include hiking trails, bird watching, game viewing, horse trails and safaris, guided tours, 4x4 trails, quad bikes, golfing, trout / fly fishing, white water rafting, rock climbing and many an artist has portrayed their versions of this splendour on canvas and paper.

This is my attempt at creating an imaginary Drakensberg landscape as I remember on our hikes across the hills and mountains.....