Carole said: "Come on, just do it!"

Five things from my bathroom. Carole said so. (http://www.carolekirk.com/ I could only get to four. I struggled almost the whole day, but I've done it and I feel good. Great they are not, but I'm happy. Wonderful feeling of achievement! It was so great having someone tell me: "This is what you need to do, do it" Not thinking or planning or finding something...I just did it. Next time it will be better. Thank you, Carole.

I dedicate this to all of you who were encouraging and supportive, may I do the same to you when you need it.

Pen and watercolor, Arches HP. Click on images to enlarge.

Because I have no inspiration!

I am in no mood for drawing or painting....can't find any inspiration! My pencil goes its own way, the brush refuses to cooperate, the ink won't flow from the pen and no subject steps forward with enthusiasm. How did I arrive here? No idea. But I believe I'm not alone in experiencing these dry spells and from past experience, I've learnt not to push it(not TOO hard, that is), not too stress(well, THAT is so easy!) not to give up(will NEVER do that?) and not to feel inadequate(complete silence..).

Since I couldn't produce anything for the last few days, I went back to some previous sketches and chose to post these, just for the sake of making myself feel a bit better.

When we were in SA on holiday, we visited my husband's brother, who just bought a huge property out in the country, beautiful, but with lots of work to restore it to its former beauty. There is an old tennis court, overrun by weeds and what not.
We are a family of tennis players and to see a tennis court, however overgrown by forestry, is to tease a lion with a lamb. My husband grabbed a shovel and started clearing the court for some great tennis! I grabbed my paper and pen to help. Soon, Dora and Solly, who are in charge of all the work in and around the house, closed in, each grabbing a tool and long before sundown, the first ball was hit...I won the point(hie hie..) barefoot no less, since I had only sandals for my sunny holiday in SA! We played tennis non-stop, for the next three days, barefoot, like when we were kids, except our feet weren't those of kids anymore...

Please be forgiving when you look at these sketches - I was sitting in direct sun with a 40 degrees C heat coming down on my head and they were moving with the speed of lightning; my husband in eagerness to hit that first ball and Dora and Solomon anxious to get out of the heat, and lastly I am not that apt at sketching people.

Pen, watercolor and moleskine.

Ugly, but couldn't do without...

I have found "ugly" to be an emotional concept, at least for me...
When you know the story behind it, "ugly!", turns into "oohh how sweet!"
On a bad mood day, I see more ugly people than usual; my car is ugly, which is usually not a problem, since I couldn't care less about a beautiful car; the dry winter scenes, which are normally architectural masterpieces, are just plain ugly and my bedroom mirror, which is most days a sweet and kind soul, shows its mean side.

Today isn't a bad day, so I couldn't find anything ugly around me. Even the dishwasher and washing machine, fridge...all those machine-things have their beauty today, maybe because they still do their job so dutifully?

I decided that garbage bins are my love-hate passion in life. Every day. They are not emotion-related. They are a cruel reality of life on earth. I hate every form of waste... energy, time, food, water, garbage...A Garbage bin to me, signifies the ugly side of life. But I couldn't do without it. In shame I hang my head and I embrace my bins, glad I only have to fill them and someone else, more courageous then me, will take care of the problem elsewhere! So, here I give you the ugly side of my life and unfortunately, yours as well....

I wanted to depict these bins as ugly, so I gave only 5 minutes to myself to do each, wash included and I kept to it. I used Pentel brush pen and watercolor pencils; black....and red and green for a touch of beauty, since this isn't a bad mood day....

The green corners of an April garden

April is gardening month. From middle March to middle April I have no nails, no soft hands, a broken back, tennis elbows in both arms, arthritis in my thumbs, I shuffle like an old woman and I smell of compost. All because of the love for a garden.

I have only white and blue/purple in my garden and of course green.Then I have one stubborn red tulip. For three years I've had that tulip showing up every April. For three years I've cut it off as soon as it flowered, put the flower in a vase, dug up the bulb and gave it to a friend. Just to repeat the process the following year. I've accepted the red tulip in my garden now. It is in a vase in my bedroom, I've dug up the bulb to give to a friend and I'll wait for it next year.

I struggled with these sketches. I can't get all these nuances of green down in a flattering manner. It all looks messy. Maybe it is too much green on one go...I do actually feel a little sick. SoI'll take my leave now.

Pen and watercolor on Arches hp.

The elegant fences of the countryside

The countryside provides a wealth of "elegant" fences...
I took Robyn(http://havedogswilltravel.blogspot.com/ ), up on her suggestion a previous time, and did these sketches on site with a water soluble pen and 2 waterbrushes and my moleskin, along with nerves of steel(for standing right on the edge of the narrow French countryroads) and a pretence(so I would at least give the impression that I know what I'm doing) and chewing gum - that is for the nerves and the pretence...

Out with the stale, in with the fresh on a Friday

Every Friday is a day of freshness and I have only three important goals for this day.

The beds get a fresh set of sheets. I love linen, white linen. The fresh bedroom is finished off with a pillow spray of rosewater or a sprig of herbs, tucked in between the pillows, for a fresh smell, something like mint or lemon verbena. What can I say, I'm a romantic.

Fresh flowers is a must on a Friday. A vase with a bouquet, old bottles with blooms, a bowl with petals, an old teapot with a bunch...an empty container and a fresh flower.

Last on a Friday is a fresh salad for dinner. Only that and maybe a fresh crusty bread. That is to make room for the rest of the weekend. A huge, scrumptious salad with all the fresh goodness found at the market, good for the body and good for the guilty conscience. Then I may have my chocolate on Saturday and my cake on Sunday.

In a perfect world, I would simply have to snap my finger and...

.... strawberries would always be in season... ....chocolates would never make you fat...

....aspararagus would be available all year round....

.... onions wouldn't give you a smelly breath... ....coffee would be considered a health food...

....my purse would always have money in it...

....my house could self-clean by the push of a button...

....I would have a chauffeur to drive me where I want....

....I would never again have to fly economy class...

In a perfect world, I suppose I would never have to snap my finger...