Waiting Woman 1

As with the rabbit paintings before, I am trying to instill some serious content into my paintings. The idea took me back to works I have done as early as 2001. This time, though, I used the stitch cartoon style and tried to convey a message through them.

At a solo exhibition I had in 2001, a few women gathered to discuss the idea of "waiting women". Yes, women are often waiting for someone to come home, for the school to break up, the cake to come out of the oven, morning to arrive, and so many seconds are ticking by! Dressing plays a role, because we just dress up, put flowers in vases, clean up and open curtains, to repeat the process the next day and the next.

"Waiting Woman 1" stitch cartoon by South African artist Marie Theron.
Acrylic on canvas on board.
USD $40 or  ZAR R300 unframed, plus shipping, 

In this composition of a seated lady, I have used a lot of horizontals and verticals to create some tension and anticipation. She is neatly framed by the night-time window. Someone must arrive soon! Does the bunny's ears show that he is listening too?

Cards and throw pillows of this image are available on RedBubble

Some Rabbit Sketches

Just pencil and paper. I love this plain medium, and I feel that one can reach some emotion, some underlying concept by simple means. Here are a few sketches on the rabbit theme. All three have something that is not easy to define.

Mother Snowball SOLD

Lola Hiding AVAILABLE

Vanilla in the Brambles AVAILABLE

Playing with Rabbits and Depth

I was pleased to realize that the bunnies have become a part of me when a friend wrote: "somehow they are so you"! We had better watch my facial features, as I may begin to resemble The March Hare or some such character!

Both the blue Wm Morris rabbits from my last blog have sold, and I know I must do every other background blue. Blue is so like Delft and very popular.But for the moment, I have made another rabbit displayed against William Morris's Trellis Wallpaper design. This was a working drawing for a design and he was trying different backgrounds behind the trellis. I decided to paint both the rust colour and the beige background and to fill the whole design with black or white ink patterns.

I then placed the rabbit so that it seems to sit on a vertical piece of fencing and to chat to the wallpaper bird. A 3-D rabbit and a flat 2-D bird. A 3-D rabbit sitting on a flat piece of trellis!

Somebunny is Confused. Available artwork

What fun to play like that! And from that I got the name for the painting: "Somebunny is Confused!"

More Acanthus Blue Rabbits

Talented William Morris was truly a king of design. In the 1880's William Morris was trying to furnish and complete "Red House", a home built especially for him. Unable to find what he wanted in the age of mass production and factories, Morris and some friends started Morris and Co. This was the rebirth of the artist-craftsman, who designed and carried out the work. Even when Morris used craftsmen to make his staircases, textiles, etc, he insisted on mastering all the techniques himself.

I am so lucky. 24 years ago I discovered Cape Town and was very fond of St Georges Mall. There, on a table on a sidewalk, I bought the large book: "William Morris Designs and Patterns" by Norah Gillow. I page through it daily and also do my rough copies of the wallpaper and tile patterns to use as backgrounds for my latest series of rabbits Here are two more inspired by the acanthus design: 

Acanthus Blue Rabbit no 2
The background was painted in gouache and ink
and the furry bunny in water-soluble oils
SOLD

Acanthus Blue Rabbit no 3
I am an excessive doodler, it is also thinking time,
so here I almost could not stop
The background was painted in gouache and ink
and the furry bunny in water-soluble oils
SOLD

Sketches and Doodles of Rabbits Lead to New Ideas

This can be called playing around, but I love sketching and hope by doing so I can chance upon something new to paint. I also have very important decisions to make in my life and thinking is something one can do the same time as sketching. I will post the sketches here and then in the next post, show something Very Good that happened afterwards.

Snow has lovely lines. I sketched her on newsprint paper on my large flip-file.
 If you know me on Facebook, you will see a gentle photo of Snow with Dexter,
the Alsation on last night's post.

This is Snow, the little bunny that has been in some of my blog stories.

Mmmm, too much like a greeting card, but we will keep trying!

Now, at last, there is some character in my sketch.

A lot of character here. The sketch quickly became the property of a friend!

And here I started doodles in ink and pencil, getting my background ideas from
 the designs of William Morris. The forms go into play with the bunny shapes.
Can you see the connection that has formed with "His Master's Voice"?

A feeling of mystery as the bunny jumps through the William Morris foliage!

I already had such good suggestions as to what the bunnies are doing: males,
 waiting to see what females will come past?  William Morris designs are immensely intricate
and I lack patience to do them neatly, but somehow,
something new was born from these doodles, and I will show them next time.

Porcelain Rabbits

There are lots of porcelain rabbits in the decor shops, and they seem to go with the renewed interest in French country-style decorating. My friend, Melissa, gave me a tiny white porcelain rabbit and I immediately saw the possibilities of this very plain form. It is as if a featureless rabbit is no longer the slave of "scale" and can easily appear gigantic when painted. Melissa also sent me the photo of the rows of porcelain rabbits, and we both thought that they looked scary. I suppose I can turn the idea into something threatening. Maybe it will be possible to move away from the "cute" label.

Three Giant Glass rabbits , 10" x 10" oil on wrapped canvas.

A tiny porcelain rabbit is the model for my 3 giants.
 I used a purple colour to work out the forms and volumes.

The Pale Rabbits and an Easter Jigsaw Puzzle

Of course this rabbit theme is just too much fun, and I will explore more and more as time goes by. Here are two images that were inspired by old stone rabbits which I found on my cell phone, photographed in Pretoria a year or so ago, even before I started using rabbits as my source material.

I simply called them "lapin 1" and "lapin 2". As soon as I had published the photos on Facebook, I had a sale and was told by many people that these paintings were more atmospheric and meaningful than my paintings of the Peter/Snowball family.

"lapin 1" Oil on Canvas 10" x 10"

"lapin 2" Oil on Canvas 10" x 10"

The symbolic meaning of "rabbit" is regeneration. Of life, of spirit and of the seasons .
 Thus it is a chosen symbol for Easter
You can buy this gift, made from my artwork from www.whiterock.co.za or find it on Facebook 

The Circle of Life

It is probably fitting that I have finished this painting, called "The Circle of Life" in my birthday week. It is open to many interpretations. Of course, like in fairy tales, the story can be softened for children. It can also be serious or threatening, if you want.

"The Circle of Life" by Marie Theron
Oil on Canvas 500mm x 400mm

Let's start at 12 o' clock. There is that cute bunny Sprinkles, our little joker, who looks masked with those big black spots at the eyes. We start this cycle with her.  There are two large rabbits, male and female in the center, to symbolize a prolific breeding pair, surrounded by lots of little ones. Now go anti-clockwise from Sprinkles onward, and there is Snowball, the lovely white rabbit and her friend Peter, black with a white stripe down his nose. Snowball and Peter, as we know had six girl rabbits. It is a life of breeding and eating that is awaiting them. A grey rabbit nibbles away at lettuce and may have a few flowers for desert. I could not help but posing our darlings, Lola (at 6 o' clock), and Vanilla again. They are full of life and ready for anything. Raspberry, one of the 6 sisters poses as a dead rabbit at the end of the life cycle. (I promise that Raspberry is alive and well and living in Durban). She is posing, remember! Our newest bunny, Snow, poses as the caregiver. That name, Snow, causes lots of misunderstandings at my grandchildren's place. Everyone coming through the door is greeted with: "Come and see, Snow!", which of course sounds funny in Durban, one of the hottest towns in South Africa. And then, to restart the circle of life, there is a tiny, dozy, fluffy baby rabbit.

A Milepost Birthday and More Rabbits: Meeting Lola

It was the strangest thing, I got involved in painting rabbits and people suddenly associated me with them, which is GOOD! It means that the rabbit theme is mine. Here in my studio the rabbits are breeding on canvasses and I want to make them very serious. I want to give the paintings layers of meaning. But I had friends who laughed out loud (in a kindly way), as no matter how deep and serious I try to make my rabbits,  as animals with worlds of knowledge in their eyes, the only thing everyone sees is a bunch of pretty cuddly bunnies! But I will pursue this theme, until I capture the nuances that I am striving for.

My granddaughters named everyone of the six sister rabbits. Today I am continuing The Benjamin Files series, by showing darling Lola. 

"Lola" by West Coast Artist Marie Theron 10 x 10 Oil on Canvas

About this milepost I mentioned in the title, I turned 70 over the weekend and had friends and family around me. The rabbit theme caused great fun with some gifts and cards featuring rabbits.

Me with Tatyana Binovskaya, my artist friend and sometimes exhibition partner

Thank you for popping in. I am heading towards great numbers of visitors, but seldom hear from them. If you say hi in my comments, it would be wonderful.

Six Girl Rabbits, Whoa!

What was Snowball dreaming of when she rested under that lovely pink duvet? Mmmmm, and then came Peter! They decided to be a Mom and Dad and were given a pretty pebbled garden all of their own, quite far from Benjamin. Because Peter and Benjamin might have been playing sometimes, but to us humans it looked like ferocious fighting.

So here, in their own place I observed the wonderful , soft , round little bunnies.There were six, and the vet said that they were all girls! 

This is Vanilla:

"Vanilla" 6x6 Oil on wrapped canvas . By South African Artist Marie Theron.

Remember when I painted them in watercolours before? This is a re-post of the painting:

Rabbits in watercolour, 18" x 12" (2011) by South African Artist Marie Theron

You may like some photos too. This is Snowball, who is often invited inside:

Snowball, Mom of six daughter rabbits.

And here she is having a meal with three of her six daughter rabbits:

Vanilla, Mom Snowball, Dad Peter and Sprinkles

Rabbits are so soft they can sit very tight! I thought at first glance that there were three in this photo, but there are four. We should never say one bunny is the prettiest, but isn't Vanilla (on the left) just too lovely for words?

Post # 200 and The Benjamin Files

I am not a daily blogger, but here I am at # 200 at last, having started in 2009.

Benjamin (1) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

So far I have just not been able to get myself on the road to do some travelling. I am hesitant of the memories, of course. But I am sure that as there is nothing wrong with me or my driving ability, the day will come when I comb the West Coast for more stories. There were no new commissions for January......so here is a theme I have been longing to develop: Rabbits!

I call my new material "The Benjamin Files", as it was the lovely form of the magnificent large velvet black French pet rabbit, Benjamin, that was my inspiration.  I first saw Benjamin, when he became the "guard on the top step" in my daughter's home.

He looks gigantic, does he not? It is because he is rather big, but also due to the colours and the scale of the forms around him. Light blue is a receding colour, which usually makes landscapes look deep and eternal.

Benjamin (2) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

Now, it is not difficult to see that Benjamin is definitely planning something! He thinks that he would like to visit the pretty little yard where Peter and Snowball lives with their six bunny daughters. Forget it Benjamin, Peter will not let you in !

Benjamin (3) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

So, Benjamin thinks of all the lovely places in the house and garden that belongs to him. He is ready to go! First to the playroom where the girls may be persuaded to let him watch Animal Planet. And when the day is cooled down, they can all go to the large front garden to play outside!

Just a mention: the rabbits appeared in a blog post in a watercolour painting after we went to babysit the pets in October 2011.