This is a precious gift, given to me by my 'soul sister' when she left. My heart was broken, but distance is not really a factor, this I have come to understand. People that I love are scattered all over the world but there are bonds which hold us all together which niether time, distance or death can break.

Sitting at my desk, I decided to paint what was arround me. The picture within the picture was done by my soul-sister, the bible is a tatty old family bible (very well used) which my mom gave to me years ago as, according to her, I 'signed' it over to myself with a green crayon as a child..she loved the bible, and thus she loved the painting. I gave it to my folks for their anniversary.

I made this for my daughters 21st, almost a year ago. I had never attempted something
like this before but besides being a tad sqwiff, the little bits of 'stuff' made it interesting.......and my daughter loves it.

A very dear friend, who has since moved to CT, invited me to do a multi-media course with her and I loved every
minute. She has inspired me with her love for expression, colour, and constantly trying out new things. She is one of the worlds TRUE artists .

This is the painting that took such an age. It is currently hanging on the wall of a Jewish friend in London :o)

People have asked me if I wasnt sorry to give this up for sale and I can emphatically say, "no". I spent such a long time on it that to move on to something else was refreshing. When painting a picture like this, one is always aware of ones mood ...mood can change everything!!! Being a religious piece and one of this nature, oft surrounded by fictitious beliefs and controversy, in a way I felt pressurised in telling the 'truth' as far as possible in recreating something that would honour the Lord and not the jaundiced perceptions of man.

Some more of my pics
This is the one that sold.

This is a close up of the Last Supper which took
me two and a half years to complete.....6 months
alone were spent researching and planning this
picture

Some of my work that went to London. Its all still there...waiting in hopeful anticipation of another chance in August this year...
hopefully at Westminster Cathedral
'Peace in Poverty"
"In Gods Hands"
"Blessed Hope"
"Rebecca"

Being invited to exhibit in London was really special. I never thought that I would be able to do it as there was so many factors that screamed 'NOT NOW!!!!".

My family commitments, or associated financial commitments, the fact that the world was in the middle of a recession and that some galaries which had been open for years had closed, the fact that I had never exhibited before, the fact that I didnt have enough stock, the fact that I would need to somehow get all my work over there....CHEAPLY, the fact that I'd only ever been to London once and didn't know my way around....but mostly due to the fact that these artists were used making money from their art and most had been painting and exhibiting for years...good artists!!. I dont rate myself as anything other than average!!!!!

Well, I went to London...The exhibition was held in August 2009, up the road from Harrods at the Brompton Oratory...the venue not great for drawing crouds, afterall, who would walk into an ancient Catholic Cathedral when the UK itself is now considered
to be a missionary country in terms of Christianity.


I met some wonderfull folk and learned a lot, but mostly, thank the Lord, I sold a
painting...the only artist to have done so...so although it wasnt a great achivement at all
in terms of my art, the mere fact that I went al all can be seen as one and this alone gave
me some encouragement

As with antiquity, I love windows and doors.

I guess to me, they represent freedom, a means of escape







When I was a little girl, I could only pray with my curtains and windows open...so that Jesus could SEE me and hear me.
I often wonder what has transpired behind draw curtains and closed doors. I used to bang my sisters door open if she shut it...I hated the sence of being locked in just as much as I hated the sence of being locked out. Even now, in our home, doors are seldom ever closed... never mined locked! Members of my family have access to everything.

As a child, Debbie, my cousin and I used to get dropped off in the middle of nowhere...at some or other rock....to count sheep.
We walked to a massive overhang where the sheep were gathered and other than trying to count the sheep we were facinated
by the ancient rock painings. These are under a small overhang at Lakoa in Clarens.

Seeing these again, brought back a flood of memories of those days..Debbie was around nine and I was 5 years older. We shared fire-cooked mielies with the farmhands and drank water from the streams. We couldnt and wouldnt attempt that these days for fear of being attacked,...or just dissappearing, even as adults. But what special days. How much and how easy to take the simple things in life for granted.

One of the original old farm houses. I'm passionate about antiquity..there is so much to learn from history,
from the lives of our forefathers, from peoples life experiences.
I feel things and sence things when walking through old places....almost
asif I'm existing within that era. I can hear the voices of the children, the dog barking, can smell
the food cooking on an old coal stove. I can see the old man in the chair, the lady of the house walking down the passage with her skirts swishing from side to side

My art always leans towards the 'old', in colour and style...I'm only just understanding this pattern and now have to decide whether to embrace it or change it. Fickle present or proven past.

Our family went off to Clarens this weekend to celebrate my 73 year old
parents 50th anniversary. They were not expecting the rest of the family
so were a bit overwealmed, but they had such a good time.

The venue fitted the occasion and couple perfectly with its beautiful , majestic mountains, green valleys, rolling farmlands, quiet nights where every single star can be seen. These simple souls
(on the left) who have lived humble lives embracing the concept of love and respect in every aspect of their life...for their family, for their fellow man and all that is God created. Their faith in a loving God has seen them through many turmoils and illnesses and it continues. They pray together daily, for the whole family and for anyone or anything who is in need of prayer. They have enriched the entire family and all around them with this legacy and I thank God for the blessing of these two wonderfull people that have been given to me and my own children.

The rest of my family are from old farming stock and they too have stood together through many hardships. My uncle passed away nearly 20 years ago, but his legacy also lives on through the lives of his children.
Family unity is so precious and should be fought for above all else because it gives hope and tangible proof that love does transend all. Nothing is more important than love.

There is such peace in simplicity, such strength in love.