The Owlings portrait of two sisters in watercolor : Magical Realism painting

This is my new painting, titled “The Owlings”

This lovely whimsical painting was inspired by a folk-style portrait of two girls I saw from the 1800’s.

It was a tradtion in former times for parents to place a coral necklaces on children as coral was thought to protect the wearer from ill health and harm.

I love the style of Magical Realism painting, where is the subject matter is often blurred between realism and a strong nuance of the quirky or magical.

This painting is primarily done in watercolours, with touches of gold, silver and coloured pigment ink.

I particularly enjoyed painting the two sisters, as it is a dedication to my own sister and the beautiful spirit of sisterhood…

….who knows what they, and their little totem owls within their arms are thinking?

Paintings like this one are so very special that I only release a small amount of print reproductions of them. The edition of this size print of the painting is only 50 prints and is available for sale here.

The original painting is also for sale – please contact me for more information. Thanks for visiting !

Leda and the Swan watercolour painting progress

I am nearing the end of completing this little painting, which I have really enjoyed doing. As mentioned in a previous post, the concept is based on an ancient Greek myth of Zeus disguised as a swan who seduces the innocent Leda.

I wanted a kind of African nuance, but ethereal too, with allusions to flight and feathers; the dreaminess of Leda’s imagination as she ponders Zeus’s love…

“Every day is just perfect for love” ~ Rumi ~

A moment shared in Love will linger in our eternal memory…

Cat Folk Art Painting Art Nouveau style with poppies, butterflies and ladybugs

This is my completed Art Nouveau style Cat painting. It is watercolor with gold and colored pigment ink and is inspired by folk art as well as the illustrations of the Art Nouveau period which had a wonderful flowing style and often incorporated natural elements within the diverse themes depicted.

It is for sale as a beautiful print in my online shop here and the original painting is for sale here – I have not come up with a name for it, so any suggestions are welcome!

Original Owl Artwork painted on Shakespeare’s verse

Recently I found a beaten up old edition – from the end of the Second World War – of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (or What You Will) and the same day I rediscovered a little owl painting I had painted some time ago. You can see it here.

I was intrigued by the idea of placing this lovely whimsical owl over the delightful words of the great Bard, creating a mixed media original yet very affordable piece of artwork. The result is what you see below. Each creation has been hand painted with acrylic upon a different page of the play, over the original print. The colours are fantastically vibrant, with highlights of gold and silver pigment to further enhance this little ACEO collectable work of art.

If you would like it purchase one of these delightful original pieces of mixed media artwork, each one created individually costs US$7.50, plus shipping – please contact me!

On Cats and Fish, Earrings and Art…

I have realised that I have a fascination with throwing cats and fish together.

It started with one of the first etchings I ever did, in London where I learned the craft 14 years ago; for some reason I was compelled to portray a little black cat swimming merrily along with some goldfish:

I hand coloured it with gouache, loved the result, and put out an edition for sale, which you can find at my Online Shop.

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The image of a cat’s fantasy underwater realm stayed with me, and a number of years later I painted a whimsical watercolour and pastel of the same topic, only with added water nymphs and spirits:

A gorgeous Print is for sale here.

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Yesterday, I found myself in one of Johannesburg’s quirky bead shops, where I picked up a wonderful stash of gorgeous Czech glass beads and findings with which to play and create, and the result, unsurprisingly was this:

I had such fun making these, and have decided to start a few themed jewellery pieces along these whimsical lines. This pair and other lovely creations can also be bought in my Shop!

….with more to come soon….

Mermaids in Atlantis Painting commission Completed!

Here is the completed painting. It has been such a wonderful experience doing this commission: thanks to my patrons for their creative support encouragement!  Here is a shot with my Dad who helped my with the construction of a shippping box and a large board on which to paint. It measures nearly 2 meters x 2 meters (6 foot x 6 foot) and has been painted in acrylics. See the posts before this one for a step by step journey through the painting process.

Here are some detailed shots, and you can purchase a beautiful print of this painting here in my Shop

Owl Painting

I have finally found a way to paint with watercolours on stretched canvas that works for me, as I sometimes get a bit bored with conventional watercolor painting on paper. And it’s always good to paint something that is ready to hang in only a couple of hours!

I painted it fairly quickly while doing a few hours at the wonderful art & craft co-operative that John and I are members of – The Nook – here in the Blue Mountains.

It was a very spontaneous painting; I had been cherishing a gorgeous photo of an owl for many years from which I had been wanting to paint some kind of picture. It has been stuck to my cupboard in the studio waiting to be realized. We are lucky enough to receive occasional visits from what I think may be a Barking Owl – he sits on top of the clothes line and watches silently in the dark with his curious eyes…

You can purchase a gorgeous giclee print of this painting here.