The Art of It

This is 50cm by 60cm and something completely different done in acrylic and using mendall 90 made by polycell to create a relief form. I think it should be framed in black.

I joined SASA at the end of last year. It’s turning out to be one of the best things I ever did!!! Besides the very stimulating meetings and talks they have, I went on my first painting outing to The Company Garden s. I was incredibly nervous, as I have never painted out in the open before. What a wonderful experience! Now I begin to realise why some people will only paint in situ. I don’t have the luxury of being able to do that all the time, it’s just not safe on your own and besides, I am a slow painter. It took a while walking around to find a spot where we would be in the shade as the sun moved over. Actually one of the most difficult things to do is to find the right spot! Being my first time I did everything wrong, like taking too long on the drawing, making it too detailed, getting the size all wrong as in the open air everything looks very different and you have to choose your boundaries. In painting from a photograph you have already chosen the comp...

This was painted from a photo Bryan took on a walk we did along a beautiful path that wound its way towards Sandbaai.

Something bright and different. Once again we really battled to get the colours accurate in the photograph.

Once again we really battled to photograph this painting. The slight bloom is a reflection caused by the camera's flash and is not present on the original painting. I am posting it anyway and will take another photograph using natural light when the weather gets better.

This was another art class where we all had to paint the same black and white picture. I must say that the only part of this picture I like are the hands and walking stick, maybe the glass and bottle as well. This was done last week. Lets move on!

This was done today at another art class. It is truly amazing how a roomful of people given the same black and white picture will produce totally different pictures

This is a painting inspired by a photograph we took of the south peninsula from a position between Rooi Els and Gordon’s Bay. The photograph was posted a while ago and can be seen in the archives.

Wow. I have started a weekly art class with Phillip Glazer at the Frank Joubert Art School. As you may have gathered I have been battling with colour! For a few weeks now I have been trying to paint sea and landscapes from some of our many photographs, but with disastrous results. What a difference it makes to have a teacher say “leave it alone now, that’s perfect”, before you over do things. How helpful it is have someone there to give advice on mixing shades and colours and to hold your painting up at a distance so that you see it as it should be seen. One always forgets to do this. Not having had any formal art training it was a very exciting experience and a huge learning curve. I hope you like the results!

This painting was my interpretation of another photo that Bryan took while we were at the Simonstown Waterfront. Very simple but stunning. Thanks again Bryan! For those visitors to my blog who may not have heard of Just Nuisance here is a little background. Just Nuisance was a Great Dane, born in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town. He is reputedly the only dog ever officially enlisted in the Royal Navy. He served at a Royal Navy base in Simon's Town. His service record was apparently somewhat blemished by his frequent absences, without leave and for refusing to leave the pub at closing time. It is also reported that he was once sentenced to have all bones removed for seven days for sleeping in an improper place: one of the Petty Officer's beds. He died after being involved in a car accident and was laid to rest with full military honours at Klaver Camp at the top of Red Hill (the current site of the South African Navy Signal School). The painting includes the statue of Just Nui...