Facebook Art Challenge

Recently there’s been a challenge taking place on Facebook. Artists challenge fellow artists to post 3 images of their work each day for 5 days, and challenge another artist to do the same. 

I thought I would share the images I posted along with a little commentary.

A collage of artichokes...

and some minatures form a few years ago...

Nostalgia takes me back to the beach. 

The first is “Hot Bluff” for the KZNSA Members Exhibition celebrating 100 Years for the Society of Artists. It was lovely to read in the comments that the collectors who have this painting are still enjoying it!

Hot Bluff oil on canvas 900mm x 900mm

The second painting “Red Bandanna” has a story attached to it. I took the photo with my phone than had a camera almost shooting blind on a bright day. A few years after selling the painting, I was talking to someone over the phone for work when she said “I have one of your paintings, the one at the beach with the dog. I bought it because it’s my friend and I with her dog in the painting!”

“Red Bandanna” oil on canvas 500mm x 500mm

The third painting is “Two Women, Three dogs” and reminds me how much I miss walking on the beach at Umhlanga Rocks.

Two Women, Three dogs - oil on canvas 500mm x 500mm

Some flowers for you to enjoy. It seems I have a thing for roses - pink - and mirrors. 

Pink Roses & Mirrors - oil on canvas 510mm x 1020mm

Lizzianthus oil on canvas 900mm x 600mm

Pink Roses with Mirrors - oil and silver leaf on canvas 900mm x 900mm

And more landscapes...

This first painting was exhibited in another KZNSA Members exhibition.The theme was “Green” so the process meshed well with the topic.It is an example of ultimate re-cycling.

The canvas started off life as a painting of orange roses (unsuccessful) then I took it along to a portrait workshop and it became a portrait (unsuccessful) until finally it became this landscape! 

I need to add that the under-paintings were thin with no impasto so this allowed me to continue working on the canvas, now adding more texture with thicker paint.

This has remained one of my favourite paintings - you can see I have used a crop for the banner image on this blog.

Square Landscape - oil on canvas 700 mm x 700 mm exhibited at KZNSA Members “Green” Exhibition

 Mountain Stream - oil on canvas 380mm x 780mm Affordable Art Fair Art Space Durban

Sinister Pool - oil on canvas 700mm x 700mm Affordable Art Fair ArtSpace Durban

Years ago the WSSA (Watercolour Society of South Africa) now sadly disbanded, had very strict rules - only painted watercolour paper for collage. So these paintings were created using hand painted papers - tissue paper, rice paper and watercolour paper. It’s a creative way of re-using paintings that did not make the mark.

Langebaan Salt Marshes Watercolour collage 

Mushrooms 760mm x 550mm Watercolour collage & mixed media

Water & Light, The Earth and Sky 760mm x 550mm Watercolour collage & mixed media

Landscapes again

Now that I have been here in Australia for four years I am discovering new exciting places that feed my creativity. The rivers and creeks near my home are the source of these paintings.

Nymphaea oil on canvas oil on canvas 910mm x 610mm

Reeds Rise from Water - oil on canvas 760mm x 760mm

Riverside Trees oil on linen 910mm x 610mm 

Winner of the 2014 Grand Prize Nundah Village Art Exhibition

Timelines, deadlines and where did time go?

I realised on Saturday morning that it was the date for Facebook to change Pages to the new Timeline. I wanted to include work pre-Facebook on my Timeline then I discovered that much of what I had painted in the past remained undocumented.


Oddly, I have little to show for my years at Art School. I can’t recall my fellow students documenting their work either. Poverty most likely resulted in most works being painted over to save the cost of a new canvas!

One relic from that period is a colour wheel painted with extreme care in Gouache. It’s stood the test of time. The colours remain bright, perhaps because for many years it remained in a folder away from the light. It’s now on the pin board in my studio and used as a reference for my students. 

The most likely reason for the lack of photos was the hassle of print photography. We forget the decisions that had to be made - do you buy 12 or 24 or 36 exposures? How long would it take to be developed? Would the photos be any good?

I would always need to develop a photograph immediately, then waste the unexposed film or take many unnecessary photos to use up the roll. How much easier is the process today? A click and immediately the image is there. No excuse now for undocumented work. 

I have some images of two dominant series. For a number of years I belonged to the Miniature Art Society of South Africa and exhibited with them both in South Africa and in World Miniature Exhibitions. Creating miniature paintings became a passion for a number of years.

Fishing Boats,Western Cape - watercolour on paper 60mm x 70mm

Collection the artist

The Arch, Belgium - watercolour on paper 70mm x 60mm

Collection the artist

As well as working in traditional watercolour , I painted a series of watercolour collages. As a member of the Watercolour Society of South Africa, work was originally restricted to transparent watercolour on paper only. In 2011 the society was renamed  Watercolour Society Africa and an associate society was formed for artists in all media, the Art Society Africa (ASA).

Pink Cannas -  Watercolour collage - Private collection

Size approx 560mm x 760mm

If collage was used, it had to be painted watercolour paper. Today the criteria are much more flexible and allow for mixed media.I became fascinated with the layering of various weights of paper, using fine, delicate papers as well as heavily textured ones. 

Mushrooms - Watercolour collage  760mm x 560mm

Collection the artist

Garden Collage - detail - Watercolour collage

Private collection. Size of complete work: 800mm x 1200mm

Some parts of the paper were glued, others areas were left to stand away from the surface of the background, creating shadows. 

The painting, Garden Collage,(detail shown here) was a large watercolour collage. The flowers and leaves were painted on separate pieces of paper, cut out and then layered and glued on to a large sheet from a roll of watercolour paper - .76metres by 1.2 metres. Different weights of paper were used to create this dramatic work. Two smaller companion paintings were made to accompany this work: White Arums with Japanese Anemones and Lilies with Gladioli part of this album on my Facebook page.

Sometimes I painted the shadows and sometimes the shadows were real. When I look at this body of work I am inspired to re-visit the process, perhaps with a change of medium and incorporate this idea on canvas.