You've got to ask yourself

I think this attempt went quite well.

Untitled_006

I've wanted to create monoprints for some time. I just love the feel of the ink, and the expectation when you lift the paper from the print - that unpredictable element.

Breezy

This is an ink drawing I made a while ago. I thought it appropriate to the theme. It forms part of a holiday book/journal I created - it's still looking for a publisher.

Treasure the hope

"As jy 'n groen tak in jou hart bewaar, sal die nagtegaal kom kuier." In English it roughly translates as ...if you keep a branch in your heart, a nightingale will come to perch upon it. My grandmother sent me this sentence in a sms and I thought this would be such a wonderful way to visually express the concept of hope.

A(h)men!

Ah, men! If only they weren't so beautiful.

Heart's desire

Valentine's day is nearing and it's impossible not to dwell on some thoughts of love. It seems we are celebrating this day of devotion without really knowing the benefactor - St. Valentine. One was a Christian martyr executed by a Roman Emperor, but during his sentence in jail he either performed a miracle on the blind daughter of his jailer or he fell in love with her, or both. He reportedly wrote a letter to her before his death, signing it with from your Valentine. What complete surrender lies in those words. Or he could be the St. Valentine who secretly performed marriage ceremonies to soldiers who were forbidden to marry by the Roman Emperor of the time - Emperor Claudius II.
I would still like to extend my deepest gratitude to you, or both of you for believing in the existence of love. Belief is like a match, it spreads like wildfire - if someone lights the match. Here's a toast to you: thank you Valentine for lighting the match, the world is on fire! So, may your day be entwined with romance and the desires of your pure heart.

I borrowed this decoration prop and thought the wire would create lovely shadows and distortion. It created a dramatic effect which I'm quite pleased with.

Garden

Summers are so alluring... the heat, the sun, the greenery, everything compells you to venture outside. Luckily my sister loves hiking as much as I do, and Bernard never complains for some vegetation underneath his paws. So a company of three explores the wild wild wild. The more I am surrounded by it the more I realise how far removed our daily lives are from it. Sometimes the most wonderful thing is of the simplest, and words do it no justice. The gardens God planted are not English gardens with 90 degree hedges, herbs found in the herb garden and the roses only facing the Southern wing. To us outsiders it might appear as sheer chaos. But stay a while, allow the cobbling stream to mesmerize you - a minute or two later it sounds like a song. And you realise how well this self-sufficient garden functions. Everything happens in its perfect time without having to remind Innocent to water the Azaleas.
Songs of the stream also by occasion have the effect of introspection. Therefor I could not help but wonder what kind of garden am I? Up close all I see is disarray and labyrinths that lead to who knows where. Could it be that when you listen closely, the stream will have a song? I pray that I may hear it too.

kitch kitchen

I read this phrase somewhere and thought, well this needs some fun imagery and decided to create my own kind of pin-up, something that would look fun in the kitchen. This is a jurassic try - she looks a bit too doll like, even for a pin-up.

The path we take

There are so many photo's to reorganise and label(I've taken quite a few during a short span of time), but being organised is just as important otherwise many great pictures will just be lost in some arbirary file. It must be the effect of Summer and this time of the year when the year winds down and loops into a new cycle. Everywhere I turn it's breathtaking and I have to capture the abundance of light or I wish I had my camera in my bag. I feel like a kid at the fair, gaping mouth wide open.
It seems therefor surprising that I selected black and white works this week, but I think it is more fitting to the message. And white clouds seems starkingly whiter against the grey shapes, one could easily be mesmerized by colour and forget to look at things that are white(or in hues of white).
Since it is at the start of the 2009 race I couldn't help but wonder what surprises the year holds and where the road might take us. (So much for trying to be happy go lucky.) I've also been hiking a lot, so the path metaphor rang closer to home. The truth is none of us know really where we're headed, we hope and wish it will unfold in a certain way without even knowing if that would be a good or wise choice for us. But that doesn't hinder us from hoping and praying and hopefully looking around, be aware of these priceless moments. They are so fleeting. I hope 2009 unfolds into a series of precious moments, may I have the wisdom to see them, grab them, and hopefully I'd have my camera at hand as well.
PS I made my first fine art sale, thank you, this is just a great gift!

A word

Recently I read that every place has a word, not the name it was given, but the word which embodies it, describes it. New York's word was achieve, Paris took love of course. If you can associate with the word of the place, they say, you would be happy there. I think this place's word is Green, well in the Summer definitely. What a privilege to be a witness to green.
It's a New Year and everyone is making plans - I pray that your plans may grow during this year into words which become life. Happy New Year!