Forest Rain, an abstract image.

Now I am really into abstraction all of a sudden.  This is my painting "Forest Rain" done several years ago. To abstract something, you start with reality....like here. I will present these posts as lessons in abstraction, because many artists ask the question: How does one start an abstract painting?

"Forest Rain" by South African Impressionist Painter Marie Theron
200mm x 300mm
Watercolour and Acrylic paints on thick watercolour paper.

Remember, an artist goes from reality to abstraction. I first made definite organic type of lines representing plant life. In my past posts, I have painted many realistic trees. To view some of my realistic trees, go HERE or HERE. The image "tree" is therefore already somewhere in my mind, in a place where information is stored. 

I often visit galleries or go through newsletters and blogs to view abstract works...and there is one very common lack in many of them: there is no depth. To my mind Kandinsky was the King of Abstract Painting. But take note, he studied the value of colours. He knew which were advancing colours and which were receding, and so the surfaces of his abstract paintings were alive with depth and perspective and movement. An abstract need not be a series of forms and lines all on one plane. Go HERE to view Kandinsky's beautiful works.

Once I have a framework drawing, it is time to start creating. First I do some automatic painting: I cover the format with patches of colour and get rid of the white surface. I love a real mess without sense at first. Chaos! After that, I go into "flow". I think of the theme, in this instance it was a forest during a shower. Some edges are dull and some objects just a blur! There are smells and sounds and so much to see and there is depth in a forest. I enjoy the process of trying to create that feeling.

I do hope that you can feel the atmosphere in this painting. In the weeks to come, I will create abstracts where I begin with tree outlines and then abstracting them from there. I will try to describe the process of creating them and hope it can help others to experiment.

Back to Bokkoms

Every time I open my blog, I notice that certain West Coast topics remain the most popular of my posts, even if new visitors pop in. These are the most-visited themes: Paternoster, Langebaan, Saldanha Bay, waterblommetjies, sutherlandia plant, and bokkoms. I have moved away from the West Coast, but I kept my home there and try to return there often. It is also available for holiday accommodation.

188 Sanderling....from our  "long beach" you can see the beautiful Table Mountain.

Since I am no longer living there and travelling the west coast regularly, I have started on many new painting themes, working in sets of 15 to 25 paintings. There were the bunnies, the stitch cartoons, the impressionistic ladies and the children. And now to honour the West  Coast once again, I painted a series of bokkoms.

The full history, process and use of bokkoms were explained in earlier posts which contained these images:

Bokkoms, read about them at this link and here

I thought I would present the Berg River at Velddrif by using a clear blue for the background? Here you can see the resulting paintings.

The three makes a good set for a narrow wall!

I am just endlessly living by the slogan (first heard from one of my lecturers long ago):  NEVER BORE THE EYE.

Thus the next step was for little fish to go all modernistic and Delauney-like, this time to reflect the colours of the little boats (bakkies, we call them) which bring in the fish for drying.

There is a tradition on the river: anybody, even a child, who needs food may collect a fresh harder or two for supper from the brimful boatloads.  In this way the community is supported. “Harders” is what they are called before they are salted and dried. I love the dish and nowhere is there a better place to eat them, than correctly prepared at a Bokkom Lane restaurant on the Berg River’s banks. These are a very fast acrylic sketch and some ink sketches on canvas, depicting my favourite meal.

Sugar and Spice, (little girls) painted by South African Impressionist Artist Marie Theron

I had fun doing eight little child paintings, where I tried to capture them in some gentle activity. Of, course, I have stored images over the years, and these darlings are based on photos of my grandchildren when they were young and sometimes the child of a friend. My subjects never pose for my and I like to capture them when they are unaware.

I first painted the canvasses bright blue. This blue colour had an influence on all the colours I used, softening the colours and contributing to the delicate nature of my subject. Due to a much smaller gallery space, I paint in acrylics, which I love. I will show more of my kids next time.

'Every Drop Helps"
100mm x 100mm
6' x 6'
View or Buy

'Girl with a Cat" 2
100mm x 100mm
6' x 6'
Buy or view

"Dreaming by the Stream"
100mm x 100mm
6' x 6'
SOLD

Into the New Year and Pondering Some Quotes

We always enter a new year with that strange mix of joy and trepidation. 

I speed-read a book last night, which were full of ideas for people marketing art on the Internet. (New year's resolutions, you see?) The author was quite adamant that people loved good slogans. "Quotes are killer", he said. I decided to open my eyes and observe some slogans. We all know the success of the Avis "We try harder" campaign. But there should be a prize for worst slogans, I thought when I opened my first e-mail this morning and it showed a bright orange banner and the words: "You CAN buy happiness". An airline I often support was trying very hard!

GIRL in a RED TOP by South African Impressionist painter
 MARIE THERON
200mm x 200mm / 8 x 8 Acrylic on wrapped canvas
ZAR 1333 / US$ 131

TO VIEW OR BUY

This painting was made from an image I had in my file of my  granddaughter taking flowers to a lady who allowed the kids to visit her farm and animals.

Here, to go with the post, are some quotes and New Year's resolutions by famous authors:
John Burroughs: One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. 

  Oprah Winfrey: Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. 

Mark Twain:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

These quotes are truly inspirational. Have a happy new year reading, painting, blogging and following blogs.

Click here for the book I mentioned on Selling Art Online.

Paintings for Summer by South African Impressionist Marie Theron

Tea on the Terrace
150mm x 210mm
6" x 8" 
Acrylic on Canvas
ZAR 1333
US$ 131

To buy, view or read my CV click here

A Long Cool Drink

150mm x 210mm

6" x 8" 

Acrylic on Canvas

ZAR 1333

US$ 131
SOLD

One Thing Leads to Another: The First Ball

"The First Ball" 16 x 20 inches (400mm x 500mm) Water-soluble Oil on Canvas
R2500 / $250 SOLD

When I started going in the direction of softer works, I halted and said: 'No, this is not me!" but little did I know that the Impressionistic works would open the door to some delightful commissions. On seeing the Monet-like work, the mother of my young model, Kayla, whom I painted in a confident pose with an umbrella in a previous painting, asked me to do a special large painting from a photograph. What a wonderful image she sent me, and this is the result on a 16 x 20 inch canvas.

I loved doing the half-plaited look of Kayla's hair and the soft loose curls of her dark-haired friend who is also called Kayla. The painting holds for me not only the image of specific people. It becomes a universal expression of the joy of being young, as these girls approach a castle-like building to attend their first ball in pretty chiffon dresses. This is one of the many moments in a young girl's life on her way to adulthood.

The painting was done in W&N water-soluble oil paints, my new must-have product. It is amazing to work with, and I do not thin the paint at all.  To read more on the product, here is a link to Lori McNee's website.

A Little Romantic Interlude

"Girl Talk" 9x12
Oil on Canvas , SOLD

I get so way-laid in everything! It is the story of my life. In art I fell briefly in love with Impressionism, but then found out the truth about the style: ironically, it takes quite a lot of labour to make something appear so effortless! Over and over I would flick colours onto canvas, using the side of an angled brush. When to stop, was the question. I flicked colour for days and days. The most annoying thing was that I could never again match the fleetingness of the little umbrella girl. What do you do when the first attempt is the best and after that you are just wasting time? I decided that after this it will be: back to the old and trusted way of painting, especially as I am suddenly swamped wit commissions based on my old work. And this painting then? Let's call it a little romantic interlude! The painting lends itself to some kind of narrative, but I want the viewer to interpret freely. The scene is set in that city with the amazing climate, Pretoria, South Africa.

Monet as Inspiration

I loved those Monet prints in my last blog, and thought: surely one can put more effort into your work! This was the result, when I tried that cheeky girl with the umbrella (from the previous post) in a more Impressionistic way:

"Spring Walk" by Artist Marie Theron 8x12 (300mm x 200mm)
Oil on W&N stretched cotton canvas.
Available from the artist R900 (South Africa) or $90 (USA) (plus postage)

The most difficult part was the tonal values. You want light and dark, but you still want the summery air to dissolve the forms. This is my book with the Monet print, next to my painting. It is fun to learn and still know that you are not copying anybody's work:

Impressionistic Exercise in Art

"Lilac Brollies" by artist Marie Theron
405mm x 305mm oil on canvas board
SOLD

I quite liked an earlier painting that I did in 2011, called "Busy Lizzies". On seeing a photo of figures in movement that I would love to paint, I immediately reverted back to that cool fresh style of painting. The new one is simply called "Lilac Brollies" to rhyme with the earlier name. To crown it all, the owner of the first painting, wants to buy the new painting as well.

"Busy Lizzies" (2011) by artist Marie Theron
405mm x 305 mm oil on board
SOLD

The freshness of the Great Masters of Impressionist painting, will always be appealing, and I decided to add some "wiki" images of Monet's umbrella ladies to this post for everyone to enjoy again and again!

MONET

MONET

MONET

MONET