Rosendal

We are visiting the pretty town of Rosendal in the Eastern Free State for a few days. I have never been there and look forward to visiting the numerous art galleries and shops. Rosendal is sittuated in a valley surrounded by the Witteberg Mountains that forms part of the Drakensberg mountain range. The town is known for its historical sandstone buildings. I downloaded some photos from the internet but will post my own next week.

Thursday Group

Can't believe it is the end of the month again. As you know the last Thursday of the month everyone works on their own painting and theme. Here is a small collection of paintings that I found interesting.

Alet's painting. She paints beautifull beach scenes.

Reinette's paintings. She is the master of children portraits. An amazing artist!

Pam's painting. She painted this one for her daughter inlaw. Lucky girl.

Vivia's painting. Always something new from her. This one is done on a black canvas. Should be interesting.

My painting. I am painting 2 scottish terriers for friends.

Another Painting

Floating

Original oil painting on canvas

This is one of the first paintings I did. Everyone seems to find it their favourite. Myne to.

We had a lovely Easter Sunday yesterday. It was a sunny warm day, despite the predictions for colder weather. All my close family came for a late lunch. Typically South African we had a braai (barbeque). My husband is a master at smoking chicken on a weber (go to http://www.weber.com for great ideas and recipes). Lunch was yummy! What a great day. Even the easter bunny came for a visit. Seems I can't get rid of them. Not that the kids complain. I am sure they have enough easter eggs to last the rest of the year. Hope you had a great easter weekend as well.

Thursday Group

Today was a quiet class. At least half of our ladypainters have taken a break over the easter weekend, lucky them. But they missed out on a great class. We painted these colourfull boats on a canvas primed with clumpled tissue paper. This gives a wonderfull texture to the painting. And they also missed the easter bunny!!! We had a great morning of chatting, painting and drinking coffee but the surprise visit of the easter bunny was the cherry on top. He made our day.

May you have a blessed easter.

Alet's painting

Hantie's painting

Vivia's painting

My painting
The easter bunny!!

Art in the Park

Was time for Art in the Park again on Saturday. Not a good day for selling art, it was cold and overcast with only a few visitors. Went home at noon to warm coffee and a good book.

These are some of the new paintings I did. They are painted on boxes made of wood. I primed them with Mendoll, a tipe of cement filler that gives a lovely rough texture and then gave them a coat of dark blue acrylic paint. The dogs are done in oil using white, burnt umber and raw umber. For the background I used blue, white and raw umber. I am going to make a series of paintings on dogs using the same method and colours. They are so cute, I love the innocence, playfulness and colours.

Thursday Group

In yesterday's class we did a fun project painting geese. They are such lovable creatures with great features. Love their round tummies, short legs and small beady eyes.

We started by making a black and white underpainting using black ackrylic paint.

The next step is to add the shading using raw umber mixed with crimson or blue and some white to create a blue and purple shade colour.

Soft yellow is placed next to the shaded area and the rest is filled in with white.

The rest is very simple. Start with blending the yellow and white, moving on to the shaded areas to create a 3d goose. The grass is painted with sap green and yellow ocre. The sky with phatallo blue and white.

Finish off the painting by adding white highlights and doing the beaks and legs.
I think they are very cute!

Some of the ladie's pantings.

Hantie's painting

Marlene's painting

Ronel's painting

Vivia's painting

Kitchen Garden

Update on my garden. Al last something is starting to happen. The wall is painted using a cement based paint with a green pigment. Looks a hundred times better than the white peeling paint from before.

I planted a border of small violets and started with the ground cover to fill the space between the stepping stones. Next step is the flowerbed below the wall. I am thinking of just planting lavender. Will give it some more thought.

Busy painting the wall

Starting to look like a garden. Even my son and his friend is impressed.

Another stepping stone.

The face of a guilty dog who decided to play with a tube of red oil paint!!

New Painting

I just love this painting. It is sad and funny at the same time. The colours are bright and should cheer up any room. This time I rememberd to take photos at various stages to give an idea of the painting process. Enjoy!

Flying Away

Original Oil on Canvas

Alice Art Gallery

Alice Art is one of the best known art galleries in South Africa. Their main showroom is in Randburg, Johannesburg. Every year they host a "new signatures" competition in July. This has grown to a very popular and prestigious competition.

Yesterday I took 5 of my paintings to the gallery to the viewing. From the 200 artists who apply only 20 are selected for the exhibition. The response to my paintings was very positive. She liked the fact that is so different, fresh and colourfull. Something very new to the gallery. Should get a phonecall by next week to hear the verdict. Holding thumbs!!

Go to Alice's website to view some amazing South African artist's paintings. http://www.aliceart.co.za

New Painting

A new painting I finished today.

Labour of Love

Original oil on canvas

I love the colour used in this painting. The colours are very serene in contrast to the vibrant red of the heart fruit. That is what broken hearts do, they bleed and you have to pick up the pieces and carry on.

Party Time

I love having birthday parties for my kids. It is such fun deciding on a cake, baking and decorating it. This year the order was for a Hello Kitty cake. No complaints from me because as you can see, it is VERY simple to do but very effective. Go to http://www.hellokittyonline.com for Hello Kitty fun stuff.

Party in the park