Greyton

Had a very relaxing time in Greyton. My first visit to the town and I thoroughly enjoyed it, not knowing what to expect and despite the negative comments of some old time visitors who believe the upsurge in housing developments has spoilt the place. Needless to say, I took all my painting paraphernalia and did very little actual painting. Took lots of pictures though and thought I would post a few. Here they are -

Super Fan Letter

Hello, my name is Rebecca, and I absolutely love your books! I read the Model Spy, Down to the Wire, and The Winning Element in 2 days. They were really fantastic. I know that authors can be really busy, and not respond... or have an auto reply or an assistant who responds to the emails... but I really hope that you get this.

You are one of my favorite authors... and I couldn't wait to read your latest book, Native Tongue... but it wasn't at the library yet. I was going to buy it form the store, but they were also out. So I hope that they restock, and that the Library buys more copies... or I'll be go crazy waiting for the book. *laugh*

Okay, moving on to why I actually sent this message... I want you to know that you're doing a great job of writing such creative and novel books. Each and every one of the pages just catches my attention over and over again. It made me want more and more... and since I couldn't go to the library everyday... I read the first 3 books of The Specialists series 3 times each. They're totally exhilarating!

So if you ever have any down times... where you can't think of anything to write about... know that you've always got a fan... me! *smile* Keep up the good work, because, I'm hoping that the Specialists will keep having adventures together.

-- Rebecca

P.S. ... if you could reply, that'd be great. But I understand if you don't.

The Aquarium 18"x24"

My grandson has become a model for me. When the family was here in Cape Town in December, they went all over the place, and the reference for this painting was taken in the aquarium at the Waterfront.

August Contest

Congratulations goes out to Carla Jackson for winning the August contest run off my site. She won an autographed copy of my latest release, The Specialists: Native Tongue. Woo-hoo!!

And a double, triple woo-hoo to my mom. It's her birthday on Saturday and she'll be (cough-cough) years old.

Cake Mix

At the end of June, armed with a small 10"x12" canvas, I took myself off to class and asked my teacher, Margie Johnson, to please guide me through a still life. My mind always went blank when the words 'still life' were mentioned - I never saw the point of painting a couple of old pots, cups and a bunch of flowers! But I thought I had to try and the little brown one, which has never been named, is the result.

Since then I have done another one of which I am quite proud. This one does have a name - Cake Mix - and was done on a slightly bigger canvas 12"x16". Every item was white, but mine didn't quite turn out that way.

My birthday vacation

As my last post mentioned, this was my birthday week. I had grand plans of traveling the Florida Gulf coast, hiking, biking, kayaking, enjoying nature, blah, blah, blah. Allow me to recap:

MONDAY
Excitedly drive RV to campground x.
Forgot key to bike lock--paid maintenance man to cut it off the back of my RV.

TUESDAY
Discover there are no hiking or biking trails (internet said there was)
Bacteria in water--can't go swimming
All restaurants closed--eat hot dogs for my birthday

WEDNESDAY
Travel to new state park
No overnight RV's allowed
Biking trails covered in cobwebs
Back into RV--travel to another state park--no RV's allowed
Spend the night in a parking lot

THURSDAY
Determined, determined, to have fun, try yet another state park
Get lost going there
Finally arrive--RV's allowed--yay!
No dogs permitted on premises

Sigh.

Give up and go home.

Moral of story? Don't trust the internet for research. Pick up the phone and call to double check stuff.

On the up side I spent little to no money :)

Renoir at the Corcoran

The Corcoran Gallery has a beautiful painting by Pierre Auguste Renoir titled "View From Cap Martin Of Monte Carlo" painted in 1884 which artist Jay Rolfe saw on a recent visit. It wasn't part of the "American Evolution" exhibit for obvious reasons. Renoir is one of Rolfe's favorite artists.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative Pop Art 3-D paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY EVERYBODY!!

WOOT-WOOT!
YIP-YIP!
HOORAY!

Aelbert Cuyp at the Corcoran

Artist Jay Rolfe saw this Aelbert Cuyp painting at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington and was reminded that he is the Dutch painter of cows. At the time, cows symbolized the Dutch prosperity, and Cuyp was good at depicting them. Rolfe has seen many Cuyp cow paintings in European museums.

The photo of the day is Aelbert Cuyp's 1650 painting "Landscape With Herdsmen."

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative Pop Art 3-D paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Edgar Degas "School of Dance" at the Corcoran

Another painting artist Jay Rolfe saw at the Corcoran Gallery was by Edgar Degas in 1873 titled "School of Dance." Degas painted many ballet scenes, many in class situations. The ballet scenes are perhaps his most popular paintings. This one is full of action and tutus.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative Pop Art 3-D paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

Beaded Beads

I have always loved working with my hands, whether it was knitting, potting or just digging in the garden. Painting has always been there, but I never (a) had the time, or (b) thought I was good enough. Now I've realised, you create because you want to, and not for what anybody else thinks of you. One of the elements of creating that I really like is beading. I do it simply because I like it - I never wear jewellery, so I now help my teacher, Maré Abbott by putting together the work she visualises. If you would like to join her classes, e-mail her at tigandme@mweb.co.za. Classes are held in Cape Town, but she does teach in Johannesburg and Durban. Here are just two examples of firstly, beaded beads and the second is based on a Zulu rope design.

Blue Jeans 18"x24" - SOLD

This Thursday past, the SA Society of Artists had their annual Eleanor Palmer competition and it seemed that hundreds and hundreds of paintings were entered. This was my contribution - a portrait of my friend, Carol Hadfield's daughter, Tracey. I called it Blue Jeans.

Seagulls & Lobster pots

I love the sea. To paint, that is, not to swim in. I'm an earth sign and like my feet on the ground, so swimming in the sea is not my favourite thing. Needless to say I have done quite a few seascapes in acrylic, watercolour, but, so far, only one in oil. These are some of them.

The top one is the watercolour of the lobster pots, a project taken from Leisure Painter magazine, the acrylic of the two seagulls is from a photograph taken at Muizenberg here in Cape Town whilst the 3 gulls come from a magazine. The last one is the oil - taken from my head and number of other sources.

John Singer Sargent at the Corcoran

John Singer Sargent's portrait "Marie Buloz Pailleron (Madame Edouard Pailleron)" set in the outdoors was unusual for 1879. This is one of the paintings artist Jay Rolfe saw at the Corcoran Gallery in the "American Evolution" exhibit. The outdoor setting and the light around the figure seem somewhat radical for the time. Compare this painting with Sargent's more formal portrait "Margaret Stuyvesant Rutherford White (Mrs. Henry White)" painted in 1883 which is featured in the post of July 30, 2008 on this blog.

This is the latest step of artist Jay Rolfe on his Journey From Starving Artist To 21st Century Picasso. You may view some of Jay Rolfe's signature style, his innovative Pop Art 3-D paintings, on his website at http://www.3dssc.com/.

THE SPECIALISTS: NATIVE TONGUE

My latest hit the shelves this week. Everybody say yip-yip!