Found wanting

I've just always loved this Indian Folk tale and thought it an apt time to illustrate. It sends a beautiful message of the complexity of female identity.

The Date

Ah, the dating game...

I kiss better

I've read this slogan somewhere and just knew it would look striking with a pinup inspired theme. I wanted her to be bold (hence the red), yet vulnerable.
I just love the crimson dress :) - wouldn't mind one of my own.

Your word is a promise

This Question

I'm finally connected to the internet again. Hurrah!
There are some stories that dwell in your thoughts in an annoying sort of way, but if you refrain from pinning them down they'll abandon you. This one got caught in time.

Breakfast

"I'll have another slice of that delicious man, please."

You are poetry to me

I'm walking again - awake, not dreaming.
Inhale deep, exhale... fresh air, new thoughts. How wonderful that the world is greater than you expect; there exist places you've never been to. I stop and take a picture, inhale. Though this reminds me of a Millet... only, there's more light and an overwhelmingly beautiful sky. Exhale. I remember a line of NP van Wyk's poem, it loops in my thoughts.
"En as ek dood is, sal alles nog so mooi wees?..."
(And when I die, will everything still be so beautiful?...)
I breathe you in and take you with me.

Back home I search for the rest of it:
"En as ek dood is, sal alles nog so mooi wees?...
die ylrooi bloeisels smôrens blink aan die perskeboom,
die wit wolke torings bou daar bo die verste berge,
die kalwers langs die kraalmuur smiddags lê en droom?
Sal daar nog warm plekkies son wees tussen donker bome,
en goggatjies nog teen die grassies klim,
as ek so ver is en daarvan nie weet nie,
en maar geen liggies voor my oog wil glim?
Sal voor my venster nog die rose somers rank,
die berge ver, so ver en blou wees,
die swaweltjies in waterklare lug draai,
en sal die gras nog hier so warm net soos nou wees?
Ek wil geen mooier wêreld hê as hierdie,
en wil nie blind wees, blind en doof en koud.
O sterf met my, o sterwe, skone wêreld,
hier in ons liefde eer jy dof word en so oud."

Pure as pearl

I've become a fan of weddings. Recently I was asked to shoot a couple's country wedding. The whole ceremony & scenery moved me so much that midway through I had to stop & wipe off the river of tears - probarbly not very professional.
In the bride's thank you letter to me she said pearls symbolises a wedding ceremony to her since both are symbols of purity. The beauty of both is born out of the lonely painful wait. Each bride stands pure in wait for her groom. That moment she sees him her pain of being lonely transforms into something beautiful - a gift to him - knowing she belongs only to him.
What a privilege to have been a witness to this kind of love.

Break a' egg

I finally completed the digital illustration, phew! What an egg might look like if it spontaneously combusts.

Ode aan 'n ridder

die blou skadu het verdwyn
hoekom huil as karooson skyn?
tel my op spoelklippie soos pêrel fyn
was my sout soos uit die see weer rein

groter is Jy as die donker nag
kielie my klein tot ek weer lag
wit is die bruid wat op jou wag
mag ek Jou sien? jou skitter jou prag?

my woorde klim boontoe
soos 'n boontjie wat rank
gaan ek ook eendag soontoe
waar hul Jou heeltyd prys en dank?

Jy's toe heeltyd die Een wat my sou verlos
stil die bitter geween sonder dat dit my iets kos

ek het Jou lief
ek kan dit sê; ek kan dit sing,
sonder dat die woorde uitdroog
in die tuimeldroër verwring

jou minnebrief
het my soos wentelbaan omkring
Jy is my Rots, my Raadsman en Reënboog
ek het jou lief
ek het jou lief
ek het jou lief
Ridder van Min