I love pigs! I would love a pig, but for now that want is on hold. In the meantime, till the time is right I paint piggy’s… Pigs may be indiscriminate eaters, but they are also highly intelligent and incredibly social animals. Highly trainable and can learn at a much faster rate than dogs. Pig behaviour…
Tag: art
Pigs & Bunny Rabbits
I am currently busy with a series of animals. Originally commissioned for a little girls bedroom modelled in the French country style. The room incorporated a lot of the elements of the French country design – ruffles, distressed woodwork, mixed patterns, with a few vibrant colours as accents but mostly all very subdued hues. Once…
Pink tulip unfolds
Created for a friend for her birthday. Pink Tulip Acrylic on 15 X 15 X 4 cm Colours used: White Cadmium red Alizarin Crimson Cadmium orange medium Hunters green Indigo Raw umber Rose blush Violet oxide
Baking Cupcakes
I love cupcakes and I get requests from the family to bake cupcakes on a regular basis. My problem is I am a very lazy baker. I hate sifting flour, I hate beating this, and adding that in little portions, and then whisking between additions, which is why I absolutely love Nigella Lawson’s book “How…
Hands and feet
During the last week I have been sketching hands and feet. 6 to be precise, 3 studies of each. Running a guesthouse and maintaining everything is often a juggling skill that keeps you on your toes. There is always something that needs replacing, repairing or fixing. We just did the roof which took a rather…
Acrylic pouring
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…
A vase of white peonies
The first step was to stain a 30 X 30cm canvas ready for painting. The practice of staining a canvas is called, imprimatura. This is an initial stain of color painted on as a ground. It provides a painter with a transparent, toned ground, which will allow light falling onto the painting to reflect through the paint…
Sunny sunflowers
Sunflowers always make me smile! They are these beautiful, cheerful heads of bright yellow nodding their heads in the breeze. I used only a palette knife for this painting. I am in the process of teaching myself to use a palette knife with some particular subject matter in mind that lends itself to this style…
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…
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