Sketches and studies of the West Coast

I am here, haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just yet! Thought I'd catch up a bit and share with you some news.

I cannot believe there are 25 days till Christmas! I have so much to do before we leave for our annual holiday to the coast. But the spirit of Christmas is upon me as I have started making some Christmas presents and am about to pick out a colour theme for my tree. I don't take all my decorations on holiday with us as we wouldn't be able to get much else in the trailer! I normally buy a live pine branch from the Salvation Army, but that became a mission as they were an hour away from our holiday home. Then a nursery used to sell them on the side of the road not far from us but their branches were sparse and empty and not very attractive. I finally invested in a lovely artificial tree a few years ago which we take with us and pack it back up in its box each year. I love Christmas time as it's a time of giving and spirited with happy moments indulging in family and loved ones in a special place we love... the coast. I am so blessed!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel down to the West Coast in the Cape. I wanted to capture some scenes of life there as it's fascinatingly different in contrast to the east coast where we normally spend our holidays. The people are different and the vegetation rich with low-lying indigenous fynbos and contrasting in comparison to the the east coast. My main aim was to take a trip up north to a little place called Paternoster. Legend has it that the the village derived it's name from the grateful prayers of the shipwrecked sailors, Paternoster meaning 'Our Father'. An old fishing village where fishermen still moor their boats on the beach after bringing in their catch of the day. The feeling of a bygone era still permeates the air with the quaint little whitewashed cottages that hug this small stretch of coastline and fishermen selling crayfish from their boats. Many an artist has painted the beach scenes there and have felt the urge to share in 'their way' the life of this attractive village.

My first small study sketch of boats on the beach at Paternoster

Colourful boats moored on the beach

White pristine beaches with the old fishermen cottages...

 but the waters are icy cold

Fisherman coming in with their catch of the day. 

 'Bokkoms' (sardines) hanging out to dry. I typical sight in 

Paternoster and delicacy of the locals.

I will be painting more of this beautiful trip I took to the west coast and show you the diverse scenes of the Cape. Now where did I put my painting hat??????

Till another time.... have fun painting!

Seal Point. Cape St Francis

With exactly a month to go before we follow the masses down to the coast for our annual December holidays, I can't stop thinking about how much there is to do still before we go. All these things are taking preference in my mind right right now so I decided to help slow it down by painting  a watercolour of our favourite holiday destination...... St Francis Bay.
This is actually a view of Seal point where the old light house (1878) still burns daily and lights up the Eastern Cape craggy points of Cape St.  Francis.
We love coming to this beach as it is so wide and scenically beautiful. My boys love surfing here and spend most of the day at Bruce's Beauties. So named for the stretch of 'perfect' waves along the eastern side of the lighthouse which were used for a movie called 'Endless Summer' made popular in the 60's by surf enthusiast Bruce Brown.  "The crown jewel to ten years of Bruce Brown surfing documentaries. Brown follows two young surfers around the world in search of the perfect wave, and ends up finding quite a few in addition to some colorful local characters" (IMDB -  Internet Movie Database).

Reflective Moments

Think I can call this completed...... I quite like the way the the soft transparent wrap around her hips turned out, giving enough to detail to the eye.

I've finally got my brushes wet today. After a lovely tranquil morning painting and a short dog walk later this afternoon, I finally got another painting finished. This is a painting of my niece Sam in Mozambique..... she was in a reflective mood and seemed distant in her own thoughts. (24 x 34cm) on Bockingfords paper. I couldn't resist taking this photo at the time. This is a WIP for now.....

Till tomorrow...