With the move back to South Africa and the adjustment to a knew environment it has taken me a while to find my rhythm and mojo. Even now, 18 months down the line there is so much to do in the guesthouse, I struggle to find the continuous hours I need to complete a…
Tag: acrylic on canvas
Red Nguni – “the stones of the Ngoye forest”
Nguni cattle form a vital part of the Zulu heritage. The uniqueness of each cow’s skin has been catalogued and forms part of the Zulu oral poetry and storytelling. The interaction between the tribe’s natural surroundings and the patterns on the Nguni hides led to the formation of over 300 illustrative words in the Zulu…
Portrait of a Zebra
Portrait of a Zebra is the beginnings of a wildlife series I will be doing inspired by where I live. St Lucia is a small village with a population of about 1000 permanent residents. It is the gateway to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa’s first World Heritage Site. It is located on Zululand’s Elephant…
Donki ko lo football jersey
Donki ko lo football jersey is the fanagalo name for a Zebra. I have always found it aptly descriptive. Fanagalo is the linga franca language used in the South African mines, composed of frequently corrupted elements of the Nguni, English and Afrikaans languages. Zebra’s have always had a very specific significance for me. When I…
Nguni cow
The Nguni (a type of breed of cattle) is unique to southern Africa. A hybrid of a number of Indian and later European cattle breeds, they were introduced by Bantu-speaking tribes to southern Africa during their migration from the north of the continent. They are characterised by their multicoloured skin, which can present in many…
A lemon, an onion & a pear…
A set of three quick still-life studies with a limited palette. LEMON Stretched canvas – 30cm X 30cm Paint Colours: Titanium white, raw umber, burnt umber, cadmium yellow light, raw sienna ONION Stretched canvas 30cm X 30cm Paint colours: Titanium white raw umber burnt sienna burnt umber cadmium yellow light raw sienna permanent Alizarin crimson…
Still life – flowers in a teacup
This still life was a very quick and simple exercise in combining the texture of a palette knife with the smoother more even texture of a brush. Flowers in a teacup Acrylic on canvas panel 20 X 25 cm The petals of the flowers naturally lend themselves to the thick, impasto application with a palette…
A full glass of water
Paints used in this painting: · Titanium white · Burnt umber · Mars black · Yellow ochre For a while I have wanted to learn how to deal with painting water in a glass. It always just seemed so impossibly tricky to get right. In my case it was no time like the present…. Glass…
artbyeileen 