latest arty farties

Hi, I see Lindsay has asked me to post some of my latest paintings. It is a really mixed bag, I have been going in all sorts of directions lately.

One theme I always enjoy is flowers, and particularly the bright daisies which appear in the bleak landscape of Namaqualand. I have lost track a bit, but i think I posted the backlit daisies recently. Here are 2 others, 800x600mm

I also did a couple of black and white abstracts a while ago, and enjoyed them, so I am still exploring that avenue. This is Grey Areas, 900x600mm

I usually work on large canvasses (900x1100 is the usual size, but lately i have been enjoying working to a smaller scale for some of them:

Baobab forest 700x400mm (I LOVE Baobabs, and they always remind me of childhood holidays, I have painted a few.... this time there is a whole grove of them.

I have been experimenting with wax on the canvas, this is the first result of that, seascape 400x400mm

The smaller size seems to work well with little scenes from around our neighbourhood....

Those of you who visit regularly may recognise this one.... it was taken the morning we went for the first graveyard stroll! Richmond Hill Church 400x400

Richmond Hill 300x300, this was the result of a photo swop with a friend who is an artist.

Velia lives around the corner from us, and her house was one of my very first interior design projects. I was so new to it that I didn't know what to charge, so we agreed we would do a swop, one of her artworks for my consulting time! There were two to choose from, and Max and I loved them both, so we agonised a bit and finally chose one. I think it was working on that house that first made us aware of this area and how cool it is.

Velia and i went through each other's photos looking for fresh inspiration, and I came across one of our Park and the famous church whose stone crosses I always photograph. I mentioned how much I loved the picture she did of that and agonised before choosing the other, and how at the time we had no inkling we would eventually end up living right there. V said she thought she still had the picture. The other day she phoned and said she had found it, and gave it to me, YAY!

Here is is, sorry about all the reflections on the glass. (As usual, I digress!)

I have a passion for architecture. If I had my life over, the one thing i would change is that instead of studying Geology, Chemistry and Maths, I would have gone for Archi instead. And naturally you will have noticed by now that I particularly like old, crumbling or higgeldy piggeldy places! So scenes like the following really appeal to me.

Santorini 900x800 Old Palace, Yemen, 900x800 (an awesome old place, apparently built in pre Roman times and originally 8 stories high)

Let me in, 700x900mm. I am indebted to Sheila for this, she kindly gave me permission to use some of her stunning photos of Portugal as inspiration. (There is another in the pipeline, watch this space!)