Caravan and Desert Dunes

This was painting that one of my friends asked me to do. She worked in the Middle East for a while and came back and she just couldn't get on without the desert. I can imagine that the desert and vast open spaces can grow on you. So she asked me to paint a desert scene. It is quite a large painting and took me a while to finish. I really enjoyed this challenge and I hope that I was able to capture something about the silence and peace and atmosphere of the desert. Maybe you can leave a comment and tell me what you think!

The Overberg

This is an area in South Africa that is always most beautiful. In autumn to winter the wheat and canola fields are so green it is almost unreal, especially if they had good rains. In Spring to early summer when the canola starts flowering you have the most amazing yellow fields, green wheat fields with the backdrop of blue mountains and even bluer skies. Then the wheat turns golden and the whole area looks different and has another beauty to it. For painters and photographers this area is a "must" to visit. I have the privilege to drive through there when I visit my parents and I am always amazed at the awesomeness and beauty of the landscape.

Up to now I haven't done many paintings of the Overberg, but they are on my "to do" list. I wonder what was on Renoir's "to do" list???
This painting is a scene on a friend's farm. When I look at it, I can feel the quietness and peace? Do you also feel that?

FREE Download

If you are one of those people who, like me, always forget to buy a birthday or greeting card - this is for you. I have designed a couple of greeting cards with my paintings on that you can download for FREE. You are welcome to print these out as many times as you wish and to use them to send to friends and family.
Here is just one of the paintings I have used. This is one of my abstract paintings.
The link where you can download the pdf file is:

Link To Download

My official painting website

I have finally finished my website where you can view all of my paintings. Well not all, but all those that I have pictures of. There you will get information about which one's are available for sale and sizes and prices. My website also contains links to other sites and blogs that I own. The site is one that will constantly change with added paintings, links and information. So please bookmark my site and make sure to visit often. And let me know what you think and if you have any valuable suggestions I would appreciate it.

Here is the link:

Painted Canvas

One last visit to Arniston

Back in the nineties! This, I think, is my best painting so far of Arniston. I say "so far", because I would love to go back there and paint plein air. That means painting right there on the spot in the open. I would love to capture the moment, or many moments. Painting like that forces you to paint fast, because atmospheric conditions change every second. And that is even more true of coastal areas. So it will be a challenge, but I know it will be a great learning curve. I have never painted like that. I have painted straight from memory, from pencil scribbles and from photos.

Some people, when they visit you, drain the life out of you, others leave you unchanged. And then you get people that, when they leave, you feel enriched. I gave this painting to a couple who enriched me by their visit.

Painting Classes

Adele helping Simonette

Since May 2011 my Tuesday evenings became the highlight of my week. That was when I have decided to join an art class. And that was the best thing I could do for my art career.  (And by the way, I know this post is not chronological. We will go back in time in the following posts, but I promised my friends at the art class I will put their pics on this post.)

This evening was a little different than other evenings - we had to drink coffee - we didn't have wine! Therefor we were also more quiet and only a few people were there tonight. But as always, it was good to be there, interact with people, paint and learn from each other.

Tonight I once again painted with a limited pallet using only Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and White and I made a small painting of myself when I was only about 3 years old. Adele had to help me with the face. I am very pleased with the painting.









Almost finished!


















Lady in red!
























Sue is making good progress!












Here I am trying to paint myself. I will definitely recommend to anybody who like painting and who want to learn more, to join a class like this. Here you are in an environment where people inspire each other. Not only have I seen progress in my own work, but also in the work of each and every person in the class. In this class there is a Rembrandt, a Cezanne, a Monet, a Vincent, a Leonardo and maybe, just maybe, also a Renoir!

Best advice ever!

The best advice I have ever received from a painter was this: "Draw everyday, it does not matter if you draw only a leaf, or an apple, but draw everyday." This advice I received from a well-established artist, AA Louw, when I was still just a child. This is also something you will read in almost every "How to-book" about art that you can find. To have a good painting, the underlying drawing must first be good, whether you draw with pencil, charcoal or brush and paint. The proportions should be correct, the perspective should be correct and the composition must draw the eye into the painting and keep it moving within the boundaries of the painting. That is when a painting is "eye-catching". A good composition will draw the eye to a focal point, and when the eye moves away, it will immediately be drawn back to that focal point.

The goal of this post is not to teach about drawing and composition, there are enough books written about it. The aim is just to stress how important it is, and to encourage other, and maybe younger artists to draw everyday. Take a notebook and pencil, and draw everything you see. I will post some of my drawings at a later stage.

Here is a painting that, I think, draws the eye into the painting by the directional lines of the road and trees and the viewer's eye tends to go back to the focal point, which is the figure. A friend of mine bought this painting and it is a scene from the most beautiful town in South Africa, Greyton in the Western Cape. By the way, people and animals give life to any painting. You almost always find figures in the paintings of people like Renoir! I think he had some eye-catching abilities.