A bowl of lemons

When making a whistle stop tour to visit our son in Cape Town I of course had to go and visit some art shops.  Sadly nothing quite compares to that huge craft store in Dubai called Creative Minds…  I am going to have to make peace with more modest art stores here in SA.  Finding…

2 Spanish Dancers

While waiting for the canvas to be custom made I squeezed in some more Spanish dancers.  These 2 are commissions inspired by my prep work, but at the same time very good preparation for the original commission i am waiting on the canvas for.  One thing I am going to have to get my head…

Spanish Dancer prototype

I have a very large commission approaching for which I have been doing a fair amount of preparation work.  I find often, while I am busy working on one project, people see the work in progress, or the finished product, and want something similar for there own home.  That is exactly what happened in the…

Quick “sketches”

Ive been doing some quick painting “sketches” in between some large commission work. I find doing something quick and unrelated without the pressure of “delivering the goods”a bit of a palette cleanser.  This break between meals so to speak allows me to go onto the next project refreshed, and not still dwelling on a recently…

Yummy fun…

I’ve drawn cupcakes for my daughters bedroom, but never painted a cupcake.  One of my art students asked me to help them paint a cupcake for a birthday gift. I wasn’t sure where to begin – acrylic paint and pencil crayon are after all, vastly different mediums. Before helping her with her project I decided…

The Hockney Hack

Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is a large acrylic-on-canvas pop art painting by British artist David Hockney, completed in May 1972. It measures 2.1 m × 3.0 m, and depicts two figures: one swimming underwater and one clothed male figure (the artist) looking down at the swimmer. In November 2018, it sold for US$90.3 million, which was the highest price ever paid at…

A very precious oversized commodity

These amazingly majestic creatures are among my favourite of all the animals and living where we do we are fortunate enough to be able to see them on a daily basis. These gentle giants can be a little intimidating, especially when threatened and charge at what is frightening them. Phil and I experienced this first…

An attempt at a monochromatic colour scheme

I think a monochromatic colour scheme has to be one of my more challenging exercises.  As much as I try to tone down my penchant for colour, it somehow finds itself back onto my palette.  I just cannot help myself. With these paintings I was forced to adhere to very limited variations of white.  Monochromatic colour…

A revisit

I wanted to experiment with a canvas pad I discovered at the local art store in Richards Bay and see if it was any good.  The red cherry seemed the perfect subject matter.  I didn’t want to use a palette knife as I wanted to feel how the brush would respond with this canvas.  It…

4 Fruit and a palette knife

A palette knife is a blunt tool used for mixing or applying paint, with a flexible steel blade. It is primarily used for mixing paint colours, paste, etc. The palette knife is a very versatile instrument and is not just a tool for mixing paint on your palette. A palette knife can be used to create some pretty stunning effects, which are…

Exhibition for Siyakha

As artists we are often approached to exhibit our work at various fairs, and fundraisers, or to donate work for an auction to raise funds for a charity, or a cause involving a private individuals education, or medical costs, or supporting victims of a natural disaster. Over the years I have got involved with all…

King Protea

Acrylic on canvas board 40 X 30 cm Painted only with a palette knife The King Protea – one of my favourite proteas from the protea family. It is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of South Africa in the fynbos region and looks so striking in flower arrangements, or in the garden.  My father was a horticulturist…