home – Africantapestry

Posted on April 16, 2007July 6, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen

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.

19 comments:

Dave said…: Good for you! There are some lovely touches in those sketches too. The shine on the pitcher, the shadow on the stand, etc. Enjoyed looking at them!; April 16, 2007 9:31 PM
Claudia said…: …I like the spontaneity and freshness of the sketches!-(I’m still working on that for myself…); April 16, 2007 9:51 PM
Sandy said…: Fabulous, I just Love your technic, so light and fresh but with great depth and personality – GREAT!; April 16, 2007 10:05 PM
Carole said…: Hey! Good work. I just love how you do those watercolour washes. You have such a light touch. The chair and bowl/pitcher is particularly nice. Looks like you’ve got a beautiful bathroom there!; April 16, 2007 10:37 PM
Teri C said…: Gosh, each one is a winner! Just wonderful!; April 17, 2007 3:36 AM
Brenda Y said…: Fantastic!! My fav is the chair with the pitcher and bowl and plant–what luscious lines and soft colors. By George, I do believe you’ve got your groove back!!; April 17, 2007 6:12 AM
Jana Bouc said…: These all have such elegance and beauty. It looks like you’ve found your inspiration again!; April 17, 2007 7:38 AM
MrsSnowy said…: What a spectacular comeback! My favourite is the chair with basin and pitcher. Goodness, if I tried to find inspiration in out bathroom it would spin me into instant depression – not the finest room in our house!; April 17, 2007 11:00 AM
platitudinal said…: Wow, these are beautiful sketches. If not for the toilet paper rolls and towels sketch, I will keep on forgetting that these are paintings of your bathroom!; April 17, 2007 2:51 PM
artnewbie said…: Lovely! What great style you have.; April 17, 2007 3:43 PM
Lin said…: YEAH!! AND WHAT A GLORIOUS JOB YOU DID!!!!! Hope it broke your uninspired spell and that Madam Muse is sitting on your shoulder!; April 17, 2007 5:10 PM
bec said…: I love the stuff in YOUR bathroom!; April 17, 2007 7:49 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you for the comments…I am back to working, almost repeating everything twice in order to get something that is half decent, but that is OK.
Ronell; April 17, 2007 11:46 PM
Ujwala said…: i’m away on holiday and hadnt been to your blog in a while. lots of wonderful work since I last visited and these 3 from your bathroom are super too.; April 18, 2007 6:13 AM
E-J said…: Lovely little sketches. What an elegant bathroom you have, Ronell! Your watercolour style is very distinctive. And you’re so prolific!; April 18, 2007 12:48 PM
caseytoussaint said…: Ronell, these are beautiful! You’ve combined your wonderful drawing skills with your decorating talent and it’s a great combination.; April 18, 2007 6:19 PM
“Maggie” said…: Wow, the chandelier is lovely and the reflections really make this a great piece. I love all the intricate inked lines.; April 21, 2007 3:22 PM
Africantapestry said…: thanks!
Ronell; April 22, 2007 4:30 PM
phthaloblu said…: Once again, beautiful sketches! Love the light best of all.

Posted on March 22, 2007July 6, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen

A doorknob is a thing of art

I love the doorknobs in my home. There are many. All the rooms have french doors that open onto a balcony. I counted all the doors – 12 of them. So I decided to draw them. I also enjoy hanging stuff on to the doors, as you’ll see and that changes with every whim.
In the guestroom, always a flower glass with something from the garden, in this case a daffodil.

In the bathroom, an old star made from recycled tin, which I bought from an old retired farmer, when we lived in South Carolina…I can still hear him say with a long, southern drawl: “Oh, lordiee, lordiee..” What a fun old man he was!

Then the market basket is always on the ready at the living room door.

And here comes a little cheating as well…a door yes, but not really a doorknob, only a huge, beautiful old key. I used an old door I found at the back in one of our caves and made a bulletin board out of it, on which I hung this key and a wooden “Bonheur” heart, which really does give “Happiness” above my desk.

OK, so maybe they aren’t all doorknobs, but purely for my enjoyment here, I depict them as such

…a pretty porcelain handle to the bathroom and last but not least, the heavy brass handle from the large green painted wooden gates. It is always tarnished but looks glorious once it is cleaned. Which happens only when I need to get rid of bad energy. Then I’m stuck with a tennis elbow for the next 6 weeks.

There are still more doorknobs and handles and levers and keys, but I’m done now with doorknobs being a thing of art.
24 comments:

Sue said…: I agree with you about the door knobs. How wonderful you get to have all different doorknobs! Great drawings. Nice touch including the things hanging on the doorknobs.; March 22, 2007 5:51 PM
Teri C said…: What a MARVELOUS collection of door knobs and accessories! I loved reading about your experiences with them and the drawings. Just wonderful!; March 22, 2007 5:55 PM
rful post, Ronell. Your watercolors are really good – and I had fun trying to recognize each doorknob.: March 22, 2007 6:47 PM
Susan Cornelis said…: I enjoyed the tour of your doorknobs. What a wonderful home ful of art you’ve created!; March 22, 2007 9:45 PM

Carole said…: Oh my goodness, you have been busy! I love how you’ve done this as a series of doorknobs. Beautiful lively illustrations – I love the way you’ve used the watercolour wash so loosely.; March 22, 2007 9:53 PM
Dave said…: What a great house you must have! I love these.; March 22, 2007 10:50 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you everybody, for the kind comments…they are much appreciated, like always.
Ronell; March 22, 2007 11:18 PM
Shirley said…: Ronell,
What a wonderful collection and fabulous watercolor paintings of them. Thanks for sharing your house with us.; March 22, 2007 11:49 PM
Lin said…: What a WONDERFUL doorknob study — to say NOTHING about your FANTASTIC rendering of them!!! WONDERFULLY DONE …exquisite execution!; March 23, 2007 12:18 AM
Anita said…: Such an enjoyable collection of sketches!; March 23, 2007 1:29 AM
aPugsLife-laserone said…: Wow, what wonderful doorknobs. We once lived in an old house (a run down leaky monster that had been condemned, when we were poor) but it had really neat antique glass doorknobs. The doorknobs you drew are awesome, I really like them! 🙂; March 23, 2007 5:35 AM
andrea joseph’s sketchblog said…: Ok these are good – very good. A fabulous collection of doorknobs. Your style works so well with the subject. Great colour. Lovely work.; March 23, 2007 10:39 AM
Laura said…: Ronelle, these are AMAZING!! I love seeing all the variations and plays on form and color. The green door is my favorite, though I like every single one of them. You and Casey must have such fun together–I’d love to come and sketch with you! Maybe on one of my next trips to France…; March 23, 2007 12:23 PM
Laura said…: Oops, sorry I added that extra ‘e’ to your name, Ronell. Old spelling habits die hard ;D.; March 23, 2007 12:24 PM
🙂 Silvia said…: I just don’t know what I like better, your watercolor paintings of your door knobs or your ideas how to decorate and style them. Both of them wonderful!; March 23, 2007 2:16 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thanks so much for the beautiful praise on what I’ve done here, it is so encouraging!
Ronell; March 23, 2007 5:33 PM
Christeen said…: These are SO COOL! Each painting is unique, and beautiful, and kudos to you for deciding to do a series about the humble doorknob. Love them!; March 23, 2007 7:31 PM
“Maggie” said…: What a lovely door handle series! What a lovely home you must have and the door handles are so unique. What year was the home built?; March 24, 2007 2:46 PM
E-J said…: They’re all wonderful, especially the last one with its gorgeous colours.; March 24, 2007 10:41 PM
phthaloblu said…: How cool! These are beautiful paintings and such interesting subjects.; March 26, 2007 2:41 PM
nik said…: Ronell, this is wonderful. I love the watercolors. They are so bright and brilliant.; March 30, 2007 6:39 AM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you for the great encouragement and praise..I appreciate it!
Ronell; March 30, 2007 9:13 AM
Sandy said…: wow wow wow

Posted on March 19, 2007July 6, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen

A bowl is a bowl…is a bowl

According to most dictionaries a bowl is a round container, wider than it is deep and holds foods or fluids….That is apart from all the other meanings…shapes, sports, etc. So I took to searching my house for bowls. There are many. But then I also found other “containers” which I find have no boundaries in terms of their function.
I often use this big platter for meat dishes, salads, but I have also used it as a bowl, since it is just deep enough to prevent sauces from dripping over the sides…platter…or bowl?

Next I thought of, was my mother’s silver sugar container, I now use as a spoonholder. Since I grew up never asking :” Please pass the sugarpot/caddy/bowl”, but simply: “Pass the sugar”, I still don’t know what it really is, and should I now maybe ask to be passed the spoonbowl?

The third find in my home was the bird bath. Although it is frequented now by the birds for bathing and our cats for drinking, it did in its newly bought years serve us humans of the house well as a fruit bowl al fresco style.

Birdbath, spoonholder, platter, bowl…it is all in the eye of the beholder.

17 comments:

karen said…: Very nice line and wash, Ronell!; March 19, 2007 10:10 PM
phthaloblu said…: These are really nice! Great job!; March 19, 2007 10:15 PM
Teri C said…: Really nice bowls! You did a great on all the bowls.; March 19, 2007 11:04 PM
Linda said…: Great, great, and great! Wonderful highlights, which makes them just zing! 🙂; March 20, 2007 1:02 AM
andrea joseph’s sketchblog said…: osh these are good but I especially love the top one. It’s funny how you can see the skill involved more clearly in the most simple of images. Gorgeous. What medium did you use?; March 20, 2007 2:30 AM
SCquiltaddict said…: Very nice work…love the wash; March 20, 2007 3:00 AM
Christeen said…: These are so beautiful- nice work!; March 20, 2007 5:07 AM
Sydney Harper said…: Nicely done! They are all lovely but my favorite is the third one.; March 20, 2007 5:32 AM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you for all the wonderful comments..
Andrea, my mediums were pen and just plain old black watercolor.
Ronell; March 20, 2007 8:33 AM
caseytoussaint said…: wow, you’ve been busy! I love these ink and wash drawings you’ve been doing – I agree with Andrea – they’re all really good, but the first one is a stunner!; March 20, 2007 8:58 AM
Emma Pod said…: These are all beautiful! It’s amazing what can be done with variations of just one color.; March 20, 2007 7:43 PM
Lin said…: GORGEOUS! Those washes are just scrumptiously done!! BRAVA!; March 20, 2007 9:52 PM
aPugsLife-laserone said…: Beautiful Bowls! There’s just something about the first one, the simple one, that I really like. 🙂; March 20, 2007 10:30 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thanks again for the encouraging comments…they really inspire me to keep working at it!
Ronell; March 20, 2007 11:08 PM
Deb Salter said…: Your use of wash is just magical!; March 21, 2007 5:28 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you, Deb…”magical” does make my heart go completely wild!
Ronell; March 21, 2007 8:36 PM
“Maggie” said…: I just love this sketch of the spoon bowl-beautiful. I have one too sitting on my table filled with silver spoons we use every day.

Posted on March 18, 2007July 6, 2008 by Myfrenchkitchen

Mood in a flame

After having glorious days last week, the rain settled back in yesterday, with a daring chill after the warmth of those perfect days. That drove me to a long, luxurious bath last night. As I watched my candle’s flame flickering mysterious images against the wall, I thought I’d post a drawing of this mood in a candle…

Ink and wash on Arches water color paper.

I made so many mistakes in this one – once again misjudged the size of my paper, tried to correct an off-centre line by putting in more line, thus accentuating the problem(left side above), keep on fiddling with the flame so it became completely without ambiance, and left too few “lost edges” by continuing coming back and doing more lines. The learning process is an uphill journey all the time….

7 comments:

SCquiltaddict said…: LOVELY JOB …sweet candlestick…; March 18, 2007 6:53 PM
Sandy said…: Maybe you had problems with is flame but I love the cherub and the overall structure and depth you achieved (yes we are all on the same journey uphill 😉; March 18, 2007 7:20 PM
phthaloblu said…: So beautiful! And I think the flame just adds a mysterious prescence to the overall piece. I love it!; March 19, 2007 2:41 AM
Emma Pod said…: The cherub candlestick is exquisite! Great job. And all of your vine drawings/paintings are beautiful. This is my first visit to your blog – lovely! Thanks for visiting mine.; March 19, 2007 3:16 AM
aPugsLife-laserone said…: This is realy beautiful. 🙂; March 19, 2007 8:22 AM
Lin said…: This is incredibly beautiful! Such wonderful shading!; March 19, 2007 12:00 PM
Africantapestry said…: Thank you everybody for visiting, I appreciate all your comments!
Ronell