No rain yet... - Maree

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. 

- Ashley Smith 

 Ink sketch and colour wash of a scene in Magaliesburg in my Moleskine Nature sketchbook

It's the first of October, heading for mid-summer here in South Africa and we've had no rain yet. Normally we have the winds in August clearing up old growth and our first spring rains early in September, but the wind has been blowing right through September, seemingly blowing the clouds back to whence they came from.

I'm having to water my garden every day, we've had some very high temperatures, but nothing seems to give life like even just a couple of millimetres of rain...

::

Grand Dame - Maree

n. pl. grandes dames also grand dames

1. A highly respected elderly or middle-aged woman
2. A respected woman having extensive experience in her field
3. A woman regarded as the most experienced, prominent, or venerable member of her profession, etc.

The Blue Gum trees (Eucalyptus) on our property are showing signs of the winter, with lots of dead leaves and grass at their bases, a sure danger should our property catch fire this season. Our fire breaks haven't been done yet, normally we're finished by now, but we're late because the tractor has been out on hire and should be back in a couple of days.

Despite the freezing cold, I took a stroll down to the bottom of our property to find something to sketch and this tree is one of my favourite grand old dames that has managed to escape burning for the past couple of seasons.

Parker Fountain pen with Black Quink ink and Rohrer & Klinger Verdura Green ink, a bit of water added. Done in my Moleskine Sketch-book.

Just some roadside scene... Maree

You say life is a dream where we can't say what we mean
Maybe just some roadside scene that we're driving past
There's no telling where we'll be in a day or in a week
And there's no promises of peace or of happiness
- Extract from "Life is a Song - Patrick Park

A gravel road leading through Spring Farm, about 3kms from us on the way to Magaliesburg for our Christmas breakfast. This is one of the short-cuts I often taken instead of the main road, which has lots of trucks, traffic and a railway line to cross. Going this route I see lots of little animals. Happiness moments...

Stray Sunflowers - Maree

“The gaudy leonine sunflower
Hangs black and barren on its stalk,
And down the windy garden walk
The dead leaves scatter - hour by hour.”
- Oscar Wilde

(Helianthus annuus) Native to the Americas - done in my Moleskine Nature Journal - 8" x 5"

Driving past Happy Acres, which was a field study centre and is now known as "Woodland School", on my way to Magaliesburg (Gauteng, South Africa), I passed these Sunflowers on the verge of the road. There are often stray Sunflowers showing up in front of the Cosmos, due to stray seeds falling from trucks passing by. If the sunflower is almost ripe, I often stop and cut one down, taking it home to my Cockatoo, Danny, who just loves to pick the seeds from the head.

My Flowers and I (Nasturtiums) - Maree

As I work among my flowers, I find myself talking to them, reasoning and remonstrating with them, and adoring them as if they were human beings. Much laughter I provoke among my friends by so doing, but that is of no consequence. We are on such good terms, my flowers and I.

- Celia Thaxter, 1835-1894

Orange Nasturtiums in my garden this summer - Seeing Lin Frye's article on her Nasturtiums, it reminded me to do a quick sketch of mine as they're already on their last legs! I was a bit disappointed in their turnout this year - I planted a couple of packets of seeds in various pots all over my garden, but for some reason they were very leggy en floppy. I think some were getting too much sun and some not enough! Oh my, but at least I've managed to gather some seeds from a couple of them.

Nasturtiums are a gardener's dream. They are virtually carefree once established, or so the packets say! Snails don't seem to be interested in them. They will even self-seed and come back the next year in mild climates. I look forward to their return each year; it signals that summer is here at last.

Go to "Blissful Housewife" for some great culinary uses of Nasturtiums, like this great starter, below - Nasturtium blossoms stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese or ricotta cheese, chives and pesto.

"Just looking at nasturtiums can make you smile - eating them might even make you giggle!"

Another view of the dam - Maree

Will Kitchen once put it this way:
"The reason I like working outdoors is that you get to live your life while you are painting it."



Another view of the dam on Spring Farm - yesterday I took a drive to Magaliesburg to do some grocery shopping, choosing to take the gravel road short-cut again, but this time with the intention of stopping and doing another couple of sketches in my "Keeping an Artist's Journal" which I used during Kate's on-line class. I drove around the dam and chose a couple of locations, mostly sketching from the car, with the door open. This is done with my Derwent watercolour pencils.

A farm road - Maree

“I haven't a clue as to how my story will end. But that's all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, you don't conclude the road has vanished. And how else could we discover the stars?”



One of the farm roads on Spring Farm bypassing the little dam where the cattle get together for most of the day, quietly grazing or lying in the shade under the trees. You can see the dam more fully in my post HERE.

Water feature - Maree

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.
- John Muir (1838 - 1914)


Done in Moleskine Watercolour sketch-book 8" x 5.5"

We go for supper at the Magaliesburg Hotel regularly, sitting outside under the thatch next to this little water feature. I quickly captured this little pond and waterfall in between sips of my glass of wine and chatting to hubby, using my watercolour pencils and a glass of water the waiter accommodatingly supplied.

Magaliesburg & Surrounds where I live - Maree

From where we live in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa, Magaliesburg is just a short 13km drive through some wonderful scenery, especially during summer, when the area turns the most amazing green after a brown and dusty winter. Although our first rains have fallen during October, much of the landscape was still dry and in danger of veld fires.