Love Being You ...

Which I do ... but anyhoo! ... is the title of this image which is the cover of a magazine called Renaissance and of course the minute I saw it I was totally gobsmacked! I absolutely love the arum lily and am always trying to find new ways to paint it etc. I have these sketches where i use the female form with the lily but never had the confidence to paint it as i am not comfortable painting the human form in any way because for me it has to be perfect and i will spend forever trying to make it so! Silly but thats moi! The artist of this image is Christo Wolmarans but not 100% sure if it's his totally as the inscription on the inside of the magazine says "Concept by Christo Wolmarans"! Don't you just love it!

Have a super fabulous week!

LOL

Today & everyday I'm loving ...

Weylandts! Got a catalogue of their Spring 2009 collection & just wished I had this delightful bank balance tucked away! But anyhoo! Can dream! The words below each pic is just such beautiful poetry (unfortunately I couldn't find who wrote the beautiful words)!

"All beauty has a common melody;

a collection of notes that dance from room to room in tints of light

before collapsing with laughter into the over-stuffed comfort of shaded spaces.

In every single piece of beauty there is the echo of another,

a connection across form and function that reminds us that if music had colour,

we would paint our lives with song.

You can visit Weylandts online here or Chris Weylandts "My journeys of discovery" below!

Display for Kids Art

I came across this via The Style Files (Thank you), which is available at IKEA! I think that this is an absolutely fabulous way to display kids art at home! I currently have Bugaloo's art attached with 2 bulldog clips, one on top of the other, hanging in the garage & I am so getting out the drill to put up this neat contraption! Unfortunately! NO IKEA in South Africa! @#$%^!!!! AND of course the current state of the SA Rand doesn't help matters much either! Will have to see if I can find something similar or maybe figure out a modification using cable etc!

Mixed Plate & Golly Bard

The great thing about having the option to follow a blog is you get to see all the amazing & interesting new discoveries! Anything "heart" gets me going! Got to see these amazing artworks of Golly Bard via Liana from Mixed Plate's Friday Favorites. Thanx Liana & a "shout out" to Holly aka Golly for such beautiful artworks!

Weavers

Jar of Love No. 13

Jar of Love No. 8

Ensnared Hearts

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

OK So I know that water is top of the list for priorities in the world but this weekend in the Western Cape was "beyond" as far as water goes!

Thing is Meesta is away & Missy here had to sort out the swimming pool, stop the "Kreepy Krauly" from washing away etc & if it was a beautiful hot day I wouldn't have a problem with sticking my hand in the freezing cold water to sort it out! Get it sorted & viola there comes the rain & more rain & more rain! If only there was a way to contain all this water!

Sunrise Art

Yesterday was about sunset! Today, didn't get to see the sun rise, it's cold & very wet & no sunrise or sunset to be seen! These photo's of the sun rising have all been taken from different parts of my home over the past few years. I love photo's of the sunrise & sunset but as an artist I don't have any desire to paint them! I have photo's that do them far more justice than painting them would, well for me anyway!

Sunset Art

I took these photo's on route to my son's wedding! I don't have a fancy camera (wish i did) but don't think they are half bad considering they were taken from the inside of a moving car!

Chocolate Art

I have this amazing collection of books! This is one of many! Was thinking that I would start a weekly "thing" were I would put the cover of the book & invite you to have a look inside, sharing a recipe, a how to, art etc. Still not quite sure what to call it, thought of Pandora's Box but still playing around with a few ideas! These images come from The Australians Women's Weekly book called "Chocolate" and I think the images are works of "chocolate" art! Will post one of the recipes soon. Have a fabulous day!

Squinting Bugaloo!

Shew! can't believe I haven't posted for 3 weeks! My little angel "Bugaloo", who will be 5 years old in October, suddenly started squinting in her left eye! She has been to see an Ophthalmologist and will be visiting the next one on Friday 17 July for a second opinion. Looks like she will have to wear glasses, which she is rather "cool" about but having to wear them 24/7 is going to be really challenging!

She loves the jungle gym, her bicycle, the trampoline and generally being a "monkey"! Will have to invest in a really sturdy "goody" to keep them on her face/head!

So we will know the total outcome of the squint next Friday around 1pm! Will keep you posted!

Autumn Wedding

A few weeks ago I did a post re my son's wedding! Well the photos finally arrived & these are my favourites! I'm so chuffed that I can share them you!

Elle Decoration South Africa

Yippee! Latest edition ELLE collected from my post box today! So much yummy stuff & these are a few of my favourites. Love the titles!

Titled "WISHLIST" Bring a street beat into your home with urban-inspired fabrics! From left to right "Urban Creep" , "Jump the Fence", "Sprayground" - Fabrics from LIV, Home Fabrics, Nucleus of Kraft, Fabric Nation (email F.Nation@gmail.com), The Silk & Cotton Co, Hertex Fabrics.

The caption at the bottom reads "SOMETIMES UNCOVERING BEAUTY IS JUST A MATTER OF CHANGING YOUR PERSPECTIVE." Gotta love Weylandts

Home Cape Town titled "Garage Party". A garage may seem an uninspiring space to most but this spot is testament to the fact that with a little clever thinking, it can form a utility canvas for some serious street-savvy styling.

Home Pretoria titled "Concrete Dream". "This house is all about basic form, simple spaces and clean lines. It's a conceptually driven collection of walls closed up with planes of timber and glass."

We sure do have some really stunning & inspiring homes & spaces in SA. Thanks ELLE for sharing!

coral icing

So proud to be the owner of this delicious painting "Coral Icing". Purchased the triptych on auction last night at the VEO Gallery, ANI-MAL opening exhibit. The artist is Leonie vd Westhuizen who donated the painting to VEO Gallery to raise funds for P.E.T.S.

Inspiring Iris

This has to be my favourite pastime, taking close-up shots of flowers especially the lily variety and then painting them. Thinking, maybe, iso painting the arum should try my hand at the Iris!

I ♥ ME

These are a handful of images of heart shapes that I have collected over the past few years. I'm in pink, brown, red heart mode & with the helpful use of Picasa put together this collage. Some are from magazines, some from wrapping paper, birthday cards or from the net! As to which came from where, I cannot remember, if you do recognize an image as your artwork, thank you so much for such a beautiful image and do let me have your details so that I can thank you.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Coffee & koeksisters

A photo from SA Magazine "Rooi Rose"

Yummy! Not the healthiest of breakfasts but definitely the yummiest! Not sure if there is a English name for a "koeksister". You would pronounce "koek" the same as the word "look" just replace the "l" with "k" & then add "sister" to the end! Got this definition from Wikipedia, there is a recipe too!

A koeksister or koesister comes from the Dutch word koekje, the diminutive of koek meaning "cake". It is a South African syrup-coated doughnut in a twisted or braided shape (like a plait). It is prepared by deep-frying dough in oil, then dipping the fried dough into cold sugar syrup. Best eaten cold, koeksisters are very sticky and sweet and taste like honey.

There is a little shop down the road called "Aitsa" (a Afrikaans word that does not really mean anything in itself its more a word of exclamation of surpise & praise put together) which sells the most yummiest cakes, gifts, handmade goodies etc. & "little" packets of yummy koeksisters!

French pink

It's cold & raining here! Real winters day! These pics from a Rooi Rose , South African Afrikaans magazine, remind me of spring & shades of pink, blue, lavender, french interior, soft cotton, yummy cakes, I can almost feel & touch it! Winter has only started & although I love the rain, well more the fact that our dams are getting filled with water, I function better in spring!

The weather man says the rain is here until Sunday! Oh boy that does not go down well with "Bugaloo" (my beautiful baby girl who is nearly 5 as she puts it) who absolutely loves being outside & for me who could spend the weekend on the couch watching movies, reading & having a snooze in between!

Whats your plans for the weekend?

Inspiration ...

Came across this photo in the Visi magazine & my reaction was "oh wow" how crazy is this! I did 2 paintings a while back with my favourite arum lily & thought I would paint them with a thorn bush/branch! Something new & different for me as I have only, well 90% of the time, just painted the lilies. I titled the paintings "Thornbirds". The arrangement of the close-up of the rose, thorn branch & reversing the same image is not a bad idea!

VEO Gallery Exhibition

"RAM"

My darling friend & fellow artist Sol Smook has done this beautiful painting (& more) for the ANI-MAL exhibition opening Tuesday 2 June in Cape Town & I can't wait to go! Thought I would give you all a little taste! Have pics of the other paintings but will show after the opening!

Something Beautiful

I started a folder in my documents titled "Blog stuff " and every time i see something i love, enjoy, that's beautiful, i put it into the "Blog stuff" folder with all intentions of blogging about it! Whats happening is my "Blog stuff" folder is getting bigger & bigger but the posting to my blog scarce! I sit down with all the enthusiasm of posting but then the connection is way too slow or i loose the post etc and end up switching off the computer with the thought of trying in the morning! Absolutely terrible! So here are a few goodies from the "Blog stuff" folder! This is what I wrote last night & yet again couldn't get the photos to download from the "Blog stuff" folder. So I will try again! Here goes!

Would love this open lounge space from Weylandts to watch the sunrise below!

Already have this beautiful sunrise from my balcony!

If only to have this beautiful open space & bed from Weylandts to watch the sunset!

This sunset was taken from my bedroom window! So now all i dream of is the bed & open space as above to go with the sunset & sunrise!

Used the zoom to take this photo from my balcony! Dont you think it looks like a painting? Stunning!

Girl Lost

I want this one! After spending 3 days in New York last year September, I can relate!

At first glance this is so fun & colourful but after close inspection and reading the title "Bad Bunny" I had a good giggle!

This one titled "Relax I'm here" I am so here! Just absolutely love these new paintings by Victoria Verbaan which are from her latest exhibition title "Girl Lost".

Roxanne Pandora Warder

I love these paintings! The artist is Roxanne Pandora Warder . I came across her via MadeByGirl blogspot which you absolutely have to visit! Thanks Jennifer.