FROG RESCUE

Today I rescued a frog.  What a way to start the day. At the bottom of the window well in our cellar was a little brown frog.  He had almost lost his identity because he was the same colour as the pebbles.  How he managed to fall into the hole is a mystery.   Being round and tubby makes it somewhat difficult to fall through the bars on the surface.  Oh well, we shall just call him Houdini.

 

My husband called the Rescue Squad which consisted of one person,  'Me'! I lifted the frog gently into my hands.

UNLOCK - NOT LOCKDOWN

LOCKDOWN has to be one of the worst words we are hearing at the moment. It is a tough time for everybody.  One is faced with isolation and little social interaction.  

As an artist, I am used to spending many hours alone in my studio. However, exhibitions are not possible at this present time.  How do we, as artists handle that? 

TIME TO EXPERIMENT

 Over the past few weeks I have been experimenting with acrylic pours and jewellery making.  What a lot of fun it has been. Suddenly , it all made sense and I started producing something that did not look as if it had been painted by a demented elephant.  

I am not sure if the breakthrough was good for me.  The playful attitude and acceptance of less than perfect art slowly disappeared.  My quest for perfection reared its stressful head.

CORONA YOU HAVE NOT KILLED MY MUSE

We spent some time in South Africa this year.  Beautiful Hermanus is always a special place for me.  I avoid going to Cape Town.  Like any other large over-populated city in the world, it is loud, dirty and the traffic is horrendous. We were fortunate enough to board one of the last flights to Germany. Corona hit the world with a bang and life changed overnight.  Restrictions, lockdowns, fear and death chased my painting muse away. There was a sense of complete helplessness in the face of a virus of which I had never heard.  Our small town in Bavaria is a lovely farming district so walks in the fresh air were part of our rather isolated lives.

COPING WITH BAD NEWS

Being part of a world which has become so visible through social media and the constant bombardment of news, is sometimes so depressing.  We open our newspapers, turn on the TV check our cell phones and listen to our radios. Our minds are filled with the horror of violence, corruption, crime and of course the mutterings and utterings of unpleasant world leaders!!

How do we counteract this to make our daily lives more pleasant and relaxed?

DOG SHOW

It is a lot of fun going to a Dog Show.  This one in South Africa happened purely by chance but what an afternoon it turned out to be.  For me as a sketcher, it was pure joy.  There were all breeds of dog, some really quirky owners and lots of competitive behaviour both by the canines and the proud exhibitors.  It has always been surmised that dogs and owners tend to look alike.  This might be true for some but a very large lady and a tiny puffed and groomed little pom certainly do not have anything in common physically. 

Animal Paintings

Two of my favourite creatures in South Africa are ostriches and meerkats.  They always make my laugh.  

The one thing I love about ostriches are their beautiful eyes with long eyelashes. This one whom I have name Orwell had particularly lovely coloured eyes.  Strangely, I found the beak the most difficult part to paint.  

This little family of Meerkats was rather on the small side.  I have seen them in groups of eight or nine cuddling each other.  Their social behaviour is particularly delightful.   They are so loyal and caring of each other. 

I do hope you enjoy these two paintings.  I had such pleasure in the process of painting them.  Click on the paintings for a larger picture.

TIP.  I never use black in my paintings.  I find that a mixture of blue, brown and a touch of red makes a lovely warm dark.  To cool it down, I add a little more blue.