Nostalgia and nasturtiums...

My sister Vivienne has done some beautiful nasturtium watercolours, posted on her blog.
Since I've been neglecting mine - I thought I'd post this photo of my bowl I painted ten years ago, during my "painting pottery" phase. We were limited in the colours we could use. The little blue star flowers should be cornflower blue - not royal. They grew on a weedy looking plant, but are edible and folk who had them growing in their gardens would often toss them into salads for a splash of colour and intrigue! I saw them growing in my mother-in-law's backyard in Oregon and brought a plant back to Texas with me, but the heat here killed it! Back to the pottery studio - it was in the private home of a friend, built onto the back of her garage. There was also a kiln, so she could fire our works of art right there. At 11 0'clock sharp she'd carry in a tray of mugs steaming with tea. It was winter and that little room was cold - and the hot tea so appreciated! Not to mention good times and good company and creative fun. Joy - if you're reading this - my bowl still reminds me of happy hours shared together! More nostalgia for East London, South Africa!

Dogs, dogs, dogs...

It's been a month since I've posted anything (sounds like a confession!) My life has been hijacked by the needs of our dogs. About six weeks ago, we found a puppy in our neighbourhood. She was so obviously dumped here and we had every intention of leaving her at the shelter. We found her on a Saturday morning and the shelter was closed till Monday. In that time she successfully hijacked our HEARTS; long story short - we now own THREE dogs! She is some sort of terrier mix with short legs and a long body. Calvin and Pippa have cautiously accepted her into the pack, with a lot of filthy looks in the direction of us two legged verticals, as if to say "What were you thinking...??!! We've named her Olive. Shortly after that Calvin, our 12 year old, started ailing. We got him through a collapse of kidneys last week, but we're not sure how long this little period of reasonable stability will last. But here are a few sketches of OLIVE. She reminds us of a seal when she sleeps, her short legs often disappearing from view. I was going to add more shading in brush + ink - but thought I'd better just go ahead and post this before another month rolls away from me! My sister Hilary would have LOVED Olive!

Home for the summer 4

Stefan allowed me five minutes for this little sketch. He gave a quick look at my effort and said indignantly "What's with my MOUTH...?!?" He has beautiful Mick Jagger'ish lips (which I think I've mentioned in a past post) and he does purse them when he's playing his guitar, like he's about to kiss someone. I as his mother, of course think its adorable. Clearly he's not amused by my rendering of the above. He has had his hair cut in a mohawk for the summer, and then requested the comb part to be dyed blond, which his sister willingly and happily did for him. In this sketch his mohawk has not been glued (and I do mean GLUED) into the upright position. Ah summer time - we spend a lot of time couped up in the house as here in Texas it is SO HOT outside. And we get on each others' nerves. But I know I'll look back on these years and ache for them, at some point!

Home for the summer 3

Our daughter turns 21 tomorrow. I've been meaning to draw her for ages and finally made the time to do it. It's wonderful to have her home for a bit, even though at times she still seems "far away" as these sketches suggest. This age of amazing technology insulate our children in their own private worlds. (Great for when you want to sketch them!) I found the downward look of her eyes, as she focused on her "Apple" and "Blackberry" quite difficult to draw. None of my 3 sketches really look like her, but there are glimpses of familiarity in each.

Home for the summer 2

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16

On a spiritual note, I read this scripture about a month ago and loved it. It struck a chord deep in my heart. Refreshing, like cold water splashed in the face. I have written it in a few recent graduation cards and made it a prayer for my own children. Then last Sunday we visited a church we are considering joining and the pastor spoke his sermon on this scripture! He explained that he'd put a planned sermon (they were working their way through one of the N.T. books) on the back burner, because he felt led by the Lord to speak on Jeremiah 6:16. I was touched and delighted and hung on every spoken word. I love it when God does this for us!

Home for the summer 1

You are the Apple of my Eye!

Maggie in a jar

Here is my exhausting magnolia project... Learned lots of good lessons. And still more to learn about all that delicate shading of white petals... However, I don't think it looks as awful as I first thought it would. (My mood progressed from frustration and desperation to "...okay, this isn't so bad..." The upper photo was taken inside under a yellow spot light. The below photo was taken outside in natural sunlight. Interesting how the colours change. Below is the more accurate colouring. I'm most encouraged by the 3 inner (smaller) petals, and I like how the loose leaves lying on the table turned out. I also enjoyed how the purply-greenish background took on a life of its own. Watching the watercolour bleed, merge and mingle on the paper was a pleasurable experience!