Uncategorized – Page 3 – Africantapestry

Posted on April 10, 2008April 10, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen · 22 Comments

Sketching a kiwi salad…with confusing creativity.

Statistics show more and more that creativity can be one of Alzheimers’s biggest enemies. And I’ve also read that the more confused a person is, the more creative he/she is. I’m in one huge slump…again. And very confused. Which means I’m very creative. Which also means I might just escape Alzheimers… But then I’ve also read that vitamin E may be linked to lung cancer if taken in too high dosages, but we take vitamin E for its anti oxidant properties? So, I’m simply confused. And still in a slump. With not a creative link in sight.

Because I do want to fight off Alzheimers, I did try to do something creative; tried it food wise, stay away from art for a while, but the urge was too strong and I did move over from the knife to the brush, and it seems I did to the paper with my brush what I did to the kiwi with the knife… See the result on the plate if you’re interested in a more optimistic view on creativity.

Posted on December 30, 2007December 30, 2007 by Myfrenchkitchen · 23 Comments

To a 2008 filled with creativity, individuality, hard work and exhilirating results!

Posted on December 23, 2007 by Myfrenchkitchen · 22 Comments

A peaceful Christmas to all.

Posted on November 11, 2007November 16, 2007 by Myfrenchkitchen · 30 Comments

Figure sketches

We had our “rentree” of figure drwing class this past week. After not doing any life drawing for about 5 months, I felt rusty and slow and struggled to gather my focus. There was quite a bit of talking going on, I would like it to be more work and less talk. I was hesitant to post these, since they feel so without emotion, so lifeless and rigid, but then I remembered…it isn’t about perfection!

See Casey’s drawings from the same class.

Have a look a Susan’s creative figure sketches, especially her “figure extravaganza ” and “muse of the vineyards”. I wish I could be next to her in life class.

Moving from 2 minute sketches, to 5 minutes and then to 15 minutes. All done on paper with vine charcoal.

Posted on May 6, 2007July 6, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen

I give you… Christeen

A fun exchange in emails between Christeen and me a while ago, turned into work in the end! Not that this wasn’t fun. Too much, I would say…I actually attempted three paintings! But it sure was difficult…I was very worried about not doing justice to her beauty and wonderful character. She assured me though it is about the process, and not the end result(for this time, I’ll believe it, although I would normally believe that the result does carry quite a bit of weight too!)
She also sent me a picture of her and her brother at four years, which I’ll attempt a bit later. By her own words, she now once again has the playfulness, enthusiasm and humor she had when she was four and that was what I tried to capture. I can see it so obviously in her face, but capturing it, is another thing. She has these amazingly long eyelashes behind which she carries the sparkles of mischief, a mouth full and round with humor, and hair, wild like a free roaming lioness. See Christeen’s excellent take on this!!…. as well as the original image here
So, here I give you Christeen…..in graphite on paper; then watercolor on Arches and last, oil on linen.

shirley said…: All absolutely wonderful! What a huge project….; May 6, 2007 4:21 PM
Christeen said…: Ronell, you are one amazingly talented woman!! Holy smokes! These are awesome!; May 6, 2007 4:22 PM
Dave said…: Ooh, these are all good. I think the graphite one is my favourite. No, perhaps it’s the oil. Although now I come to look at the watercolour again…; May 6, 2007 4:29 PM
caseytoussaint said…: Wow, Ronell, these are great! My favorite is the oil – it ‘s so full of life.; May 6, 2007 5:09 PM
Lin said…: RONELL! STUNNING! GORGEOUS! PHENOMENAL WORK! MERCY … THIS IS TRULY OUTSTANDING!; May 6, 2007 5:35 PM
Claudia said…: I like the watercolour one the most! Wonderful work, all three are superb!; May 6, 2007 5:44 PM
Nina Johansson said…: hese are just lovely! Incredibly good, you captured Christeen perfectly!; May 6, 2007 7:01 PM
martín said…: Ronell, I absolutely agree with Christeen, you´re amanzingly talented!!! I can’t say I have a favourite, I can’t decide since I like the three of them very much. Each one has its own character. GREAT JOB!!!; May 6, 2007 7:45 PM
Sarah said…: Amazing paintings – isn’t it interesting how the different media seem to emphasise different aspects – they’re all alive and vital, but the watercolour shows a more reflective person, the oil brings that hint of mischief out more and in the charcoal drawing she looks more curious, almost about to challenge someone (I should say – that’s how they look to me anyway); May 6, 2007 8:45 PM
SCquiltaddict said…: Ronell THese are just super…they got better and better as i scrolled down the page…cant decide WHICH is my favorite…they are all MAGNIFICIENT!!; May 6, 2007 9:19 PM
Cathy (Kate) Johnson said…: Oh, Ronell, your charcoal is GORGEOUS, and so is Christeen!; May 6, 2007 9:21 PM
Cathy (Kate) Johnson said…: Ooops, graphite! You did such a rich, deep job with it I just assumed it was charcoal!Read ALL the words, Kate…*G*; May 6, 2007 9:23 PM
Silvia said…: All of the portraits are wonderful :), but I think I like the second one even best :))!; May 6, 2007 9:58 PM
Kristin Saegaert said…: Wow! I think I like the graphite the best, but with your amazing talent it’s really hard to commit to that!!! Thanks for sharing your art with us!; May 7, 2007 12:42 AM
Shelly McC said…: Stunning painting!; May 7, 2007 1:49 AM
Kay Cox said…: Ronell, these are just beautiful. I aspire to be able to paint like you someday. Thank you so much for sharing your lovely work. Lucky Christeen!; May 7, 2007 2:23 AM
bec said…: What a fun project! My favorite is the watercolor… nice play of light on the subject. Did Christeen draw you?; May 7, 2007 2:35 AM
Robin Neudorfer said…: I love the graphite drawing. So spontaneous. What a fun project; May 7, 2007 2:49 AM
Nancy said…: I love the graphite drawing and keep gong back to it (your model is beautiful by the way). I love to look at your site – I leave feeling inspired.; May 7, 2007 4:12 AM
Serena said…: These are awesome! I think my favourite is the graphite. 🙂; May 7, 2007 9:08 AM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you for all the comments -Sarah…thank you for being so observant..you’re spot on! I’m so glad you did see a littel of what I tried to do…see down below.Nancy: Yes I had a beautiful model to work with!Bec: and Christeen does have a snapshot of me, so when she has time, she’ll do one too.note: This was a very intimidating experience for me….doing a painting of someone you don’t know or haven’t met face to face, and in a weird sense is actually a friend(like you all would agree, I’m sure) and all you have to work with is a photograph – you haven’t seen some personal mannerisms, like how her mouth moves when she smiles, how she crinkles her nose, how she plays with a string of hair, how the light in her eye changes…anything that can give you an idea of something more than physical…. Normally I would’ve preferred to have Christeen’s face say something more than just displaying rendition, tell more of a story, but I didn’t feel confident enough to do that. Who knows, maybe our paths might cross and then I’ll redo these.
Ronell; May 7, 2007 9:15 AM
Regula Scheifele said…: So I’m going to chime in and say how much I admire your work and your courage as well… I couldn’t say which one I like the most, since they all have a different feeling to them, like showing different aspects of Christeen’s personality? – Would be interesting to know which one she thinks portrays her best?; May 7, 2007 9:29 AM
Ujwala said…: all three are wonderful but the oil is my favourite 😛 sounds like a fun project and i hope we can see christeen’s work too.; May 7, 2007 12:14 PM
Tonniece said…: OOOH, I LOVE THEM ALL RONELL, BUT I TRULY THINK THE GRAPHITE IS MY FAVE. I; May 7, 2007 12:35 PM
Sandy said…: WOW – big WOW you are a master (bowing down before you); May 7, 2007 3:52 PM
Robyn said…: I love the graphite one, Ronell. it looks so spontaneous and very much from life. That, I find, is terribly difficult to achieve from a photo which usually lends itself to a more formal portrait. You are very clever – I’m so in awe of the oil too!; May 7, 2007 6:30 PM
Fanta said…: I like the first one best, maybe because I love graphite, maybe because you truly did capture the child in her expression.
The last one truly looks like a lioness, even the twirls in the background resemble the presence of a lioness! Awesome!; May 7, 2007 9:49 PM
platitudinal said…: Truly amazing work. You’re not only attempting a likeness of her, but also her essence. That’s very difficult to capture, and yet you did. I think each medium emphasize more of certain characteristic, but all and all they’re all there. Superb job, Ronell.; May 7, 2007 10:02 PM
Carole said…: Well done – these are stunning! It’s so interesting seeing them done in three different media, and noticing how each gives a different feel. My favourite has to be the oil painting because I am such a huge fan of your luscious way with oils. Oh, to be able to paint like that!; May 7, 2007 11:16 PM
Anonymous said…: Hello I cant tell you how much your work has inspired me to practice daily and hope that someday I also will be able to turn out wonderful works of art. You are a wonderful artist and I thank-you for letting us see your work hear.
Linda; May 8, 2007 12:49 AM
mARTa said…: wow! how different they all are yet how smashing! Your blog is always a joy to the viewer!; May 8, 2007 2:13 AM
Renate said…: Wonderful. They all have there own charm. I love the eyes from the graphite one, but my favorite is the one in oil.; May 8, 2007 8:50 AM
wagonized said…: It is hard to tell which one strikes me the most — as each of them stresses something different about Christeen. Love her hair in the graphite one.
Thank you, Ronell, for your comments on my funk of the past few days. Your words, which i found on Suzanne’s blog, have stuck in my head ever since i read them. Yesterday, i just showed up at the page… 🙂; May 8, 2007 4:03 PM
Christeen said…: I keep coming back to marvel at these. I’ve never seen a drawing or painting of myself before, and I enjoy them SO much!Your graphite drawing really captures how my hair feels to me- men have lost watches in it! It can be incridibly difficult to coerce into submission!I love the loose, fresh approach in the watercolor. You’ve made the light SO beautiful- I feel like I’m outside, just looking at it. I am also impressed with how you kept the line of my nosering thin and delicate in the midst of those wonderful washes of color. You’ve got my squint wonderfully.And the oil- wow. The brushstrokes are really lively. Thje background supports your lionine take on my hair, and suggests wind tossing it around (and it was VERY windy the day I took that shot). The colors are luscious. The colors you’ve used for my skin are particularly impressive to me.So, all that said, thank you SO much for applying your creative talents to this swap of photos! You’ve inspired and impressed me, and I’m so glad we gave it a try.; May 8, 2007 7:56 PM
andrea joseph’s sketchblog said…: Great work Ronell – not just this post throughout your blog. These are great, I think I like the pencil one the best.; May 9, 2007 1:10 AM
aPugsLife-laserone said…: These are really fantastic! You’re so talented. 😀; May 9, 2007 6:37 AM
E-J said…: You’ve been so busy! You and Christeen have really taken this challenge by the horns. I think the oil is especially good.; ay 9, 2007 1:52 PM
Linda said…: These are all great! Christeen’s painting of you is wonderful, too — you two are cooking up some fun stuff! 🙂; May 11, 2007 4:18 AM
Anonymous said…: Come across to your blog and loved it. I will return.http://tcores.blogspot.com; May 11, 2007 2:40 PM
janey said…: These are great, I love the color and texture in the last one.; May 11, 2007 6:15 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you for all the generous comments!
Ronell; May 12, 2007 8:26 AM
phthaloblu said…: What a grand project! I love the graphite the best, but that’s just me. All of them are simply superb.

Posted on April 10, 2007April 15, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen · 2 Comments

The 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.

17 comments:

Kunya said…: Well, I realy like those drawings. You must have a wonderful garden…and to me it isn’t messy at all!; April 10, 2007 7:16 PM
shirley said…: These are really wonderful. I love the various items you have in your garden and the meticulous depiction of chicken wire!; April 10, 2007 8:01 PM
Sandy said…: Oh My Lord you made me laugh!!! I am right there with you girl. The sketches are lovely, light and luscious. Would love to see that rouge tulip too.
Perhaps a progression of sketches in the garden will follow?!; April 10, 2007 8:42 PM
caseytoussaint said…: These are beautiful sketches Ronell. And Sandy, I have to tell you, she does have a very beautiful garden!; April 10, 2007 8:47 PM
aPugsLife-laserone said…: Wow, really nice! I love the one w/ the face in the middle. That one gave me a double-take. Beautiful. 🙂; April 10, 2007 10:17 PM
Jan said…: I see you have a beautiful and interesting garden and a great blog. Thanks for visiting mine. What an interesting garden!; April 10, 2007 10:19 PM
Lin said…: WHAT UNUSUAL GARDEN PIECES!! BEAUTIFUL!!!! And that red tulip — what a hilarious story! Yep, we’d be in trouble together! Gardening and sketching!! GREAT JOB!; April 10, 2007 11:22 PM
Carole said…: There are so many wonderful watercolour effects here – I have no idea how you’ve done them, but I really like them. I also like the various little faces peeping out of these sketches.; April 10, 2007 11:31 PM
Karen said…: I know how you feel – I was pulling out old vines in my backyard today – oh my back!Very nice sketches, I’m sure they help bring some comfort!; April 11, 2007 10:12 AM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you everybody, I appreciate the time and effort put into leaving a comment..Sandy, I’ll probably do more sketches as the garden grows month by month…the summers provide so much fun subjects in and around our gardens!
Ronell; April 11, 2007 10:46 AM
platitudinal said…: I am already impressed by your artistic ability. And now, you further impressed me with your green thumb. Are these sketches from your garden? Oooohhh-aaaahhhh, so many lovelies to be found in your garden! I shouldn’t be surprised … you seem to exude beauty all around you.*Send that tulip my way, Ronell, I’m sure I can kill it in a second. My mom said that I’m the only person she knows who can kill a cactus!; April 11, 2007 12:33 PM
Laura said…: They say every room should have a touch of red, so maybe the same thing holds true for gardens! (Though I don’t remember seeing anything red in the white garden at Sissinghurst ;D.) Your cool and subtle palette works very well indoors and out!; April 11, 2007 2:12 PM
Brenda Y said…: WOW! I love your sketches – I do hope you do more of your garden!! I especially like the water feature, I can almost hear the tinkling of the water.
How hilarious about the tulip! After you dig up the bulb, someone must be sneaking a new bulb in the ground while you sleep – ha.; April 11, 2007 4:26 PM
phthaloblu said…: These are beautiful! I don’t think they are messy at all.; April 11, 2007 5:46 PM
ksklein said…: I hope I don`t offend you with my comment. But somehow your second pic reminds me of HULK. 🙂 Specially because I went to an exhibition tod;) and one of the artists topic was Hulk. Maybe I`m crazy! 😉; April 11, 2007 11:15 PM
Robin Neudorfer said…: What a lovely place to practice something that is enjoyable. There is nothing as special as honoring your riches. I love how you captured the water in your last painting, and the effect that you created on the front leaves. Continue doing what works and explore with what you want to improve. Seems like you are on the right path.; April 12, 2007 5:35 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thanks Robin….and ks klein, no I’m not in the least offended and yes, I can now also see how it might come from Hulk. To tell the truth, I felt a bit like the hulk after I’ve done all this green! Thanks for the comment.
Ronell; April 12, 2007 7:13 PM

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