Multi-media medicine

Having enjoyed doing the last box so much, I decided to try another.....a gift for a friend. The only difference with this one is that I didn't have time to do a painting inside the lid. ( see my previous my post...the painting took a long time due to the angle and the size)


In progress, I wasn't sure about the shape at any stage, with the grooved, con vexed lid but it's all about trial and error when attempting new things.

Here, the box has been painted, using brown then coral craft paint, then tilling the sides with small ceramic tiles. The strips have just been measured and are about to be engraved and polished. They work well in filling in and finishing the edges. I love working with it as it's really soft and one can do just about anything, although, I'm not sure about the safety aspect in using this medium too often.



Lead strips almost done.













I have never used copper patina before and didn't have a clue so ended up phoning a friend...and bothering her terribly in tryng to get it right. Not perfect, but I loved the effect. The copper gave a skin-colored tone to her face which I was realy happy with. Talk about just jumping in....!!!








About to patina the side strips,














And.....voila.....DONE!













Not perfect but perfection is for perfectionists and perfectionists die young :o)

Garep Dam

The trip to the Cape takes around 13 hours with stops. The Gariep Dam is a popular stop for most travelers on this road long trip. We normally stay at a lovely Karoo farm further on, called 'The Vale" a few kms outside Beaufort west, but we had left a little later than normal.
We rented a large 3 bed/7 sleeper, double story unt on the dam for R900 per night...peak season, which, when travellng wth a large, (and large) family, is a good deal. Stopping here breaks the journey up into just over half-way...we had a 6 hour trip the next day.

Strawberry farm in George

One of the treats we had recently as a family, was a trip to a strawberry farm near George on the garden route, Western Cape.

We picked our own strawberries at R25 per person/large bucket.
I have attempted to grow strawberres for a whle now.......I could see how to do it rght.....furrows and lots and lots of water, compost and black plastic bags.



It had other things enjoyed by families, especially for young children, like a train that runs through the strawberry fields, a lovely tea garden (obviously serving scones and yum home-made strawberry jam), various farm animals and a well-stocked shop with all sorts of strawberry products and foods.












Just too hard to resist!









These were the best strawberres that we'd ever eaten! There wasn't one that was remotely sour......by the time we'd got to the men, there was a huge dent in our pickings!







This picture in no way, does the real thing any justice...we just couldn't stop ourselves.

sculpture and more multi-media

One of my mom's long-time friends' husbands, Tony Phasey, is gravely ill and my mother, being who she is, put her prayerful nature into top gear. She bought him a little prayer candle holder made from clay and a prayer booklet called 'You are my Beloved' by Mitch Finley, and sent it to me to do a little pewter on it (the candle holder).
Unfortunately, by the time it arrived here, it was in pieces. Mom was really upset.


The strangest thing is that, as I sat there with the broken pieces on my lap, Jesus's face looked up at me, and I felt so profoundly,that the Lords was giving me the message!...'You are my beloved'..... I decided to make another one!


I bought some clay and made all the little pieces, taking care to dry them on a really flat surface and had to continually turn them over to prevent them from lifting at the corners. I eventually dried them under a heavy book.



I then made the little candle holder section. My tools were very crude...a Stanley knife and a plastic lead moulder....but it worked!

I beveled the edges to facilitate the join, then all the panels were molded together...using clay.

Finally completed...not exact...but I was really happy with it.

Last night, I painted it with gesso...I still need to sand it down to a smooth surface, after which, I will start the painting and the pewter..... the finished product will soon follow.
It's been years since I've done any sculpture and I sooooo enjoyed doing this...a dirty, messy, stuff-under-the-nails process. I've committed myself to this art form this year, and am really excited about trying out different mediums.



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This is another multi-media box that I'm busy with at the moment. I'm really enjoying using various materials and techniques and want to extend on that with each one I do. I used a little liquid lead with this, just as an experiment..... maybe try it out on the lid?? I'm busy with the pewter at the moment and am in the planning stages for the little lid panting.










These are the little 1cm lead strips which use as a finish. It's a lovely soft, bendable medium to engrave on, cut, bend and manipulate into awkward places.

Saying goodbye to 2011

I'm not in a particularly reflective mood, I guess because I'm still in the moment. But I'm trying to summarize a very busy and interesting year. Having scribbled my life onto endless pages of journals this year, in a way, I have off-loaded. Today s quite simply, another day, a NEW day and a new beginning..... as is every day.

I've received so many blessings: My eldest daughter graduating in her final honors at Wits, five long and hard years of study. My second daughter, getting to live the dream in seeing the world..... and a large part of herself I may add (and coming home safely), my son's academic improvement at school, his music, golf and rugby achievements, my husband managing to keep the boat afloat under very difficult circumstances, both my parents are still with us and thank God, reasonably healthy, my middle sister is in a new and loving relationship, and got to see my eldest sister and her family after 6 long years.
Exhibiting in Canada and London were unforeseen bonuses, a little start to my big, bold dreams.

I don't believe in making New Years resolutions...life is circumstantial. Nobody knows what the future holds. However, I do believe in hope and dreams...that by visualizing them, seeing ourselves in them, tasting them, touching them ...... we can make them happen. I have many :o)!!

There has been downs this year too...many tears were shed and many lessons learned through each drop. It's been a year since Leticia's death. I still cry when I think about her; gentle, strong, deep and beautiful soul that she was. This year has proved to me that its not about the destination but the journey and that the easy path is not always the best.....especially if the destination is worthwhile. The love for my friends and family have sustained me, the hope I have in that love and its source, is what shortens those long, dry winters of my soul.

A while ago, I had a very profound experience wherein, after throwing a rather large branch into the sea, ( symbolic of my past heavy burdens,) the sky had filled with screaming seagulls, directly over the site.














I decided to do the same...well, almost...this year.
After a long run and a quiet walk on the beach, I decided that I needed to get rid of this years 'bad' experiences and memories in order to start the next afresh.



I found a smelly, drying piece of 'red-bait', and ....I didn't understand why at the time,....an empty mussel shell, tentatively picked them up, walked to the edge of the rocks and threw them into the waves as hard as I could.





There was no acknowledgement from the seagulls this time. there were none......but I noticed a pair of Oyster Catchers.....they simply stood there staring at me with their blood red eyes.

I smiled and proceeded to jump around on the rocks, feeling like I did when I was a little girl....Free.

A full nest again

My daughter arrived home shortly after I got back from London...sheeeesh!!....the energy!!
I never realised how much I missed it till it flooded our home again! Within an hour, the entire house, from kitchen to bedroom, was littered wth 'Bronwen'!...her loud, infectious laughter, bounced off the walls and nearly caused Bobo, our crazy parrot, to fall off his perch.!

She qualified in Hotel management last year so has been doing some traveling. One can't but help envy her, that at such a young age, she has seen more of the world than most people have. She soon dispelled the notion of any 'glamor' associated with her choice of career...pus and badly cracked, red hands were testimony to the kind of work...really HARD work...that this job entails. She was voted second best of all 26 international staff.....her mum's really proud of her!!!


When she got home, she slept for a while then was pounced on by her siblings...she slept in Andreas arms for a while too and it brought tears to my eyes. Like my own sisters and I, there s a bond so strong that I have no doubt in my mind that my children will always be there for each other.
Her and her boyfriend surprised us a day early so it took an hour to round up as much of the family as we could to celebrate. She was exhausted and hungry....craving 'real South African meat', Nicknacks, my popular 'pap pie' and of course, lots of family hugs....she got all in abundance...and we washed it all down with a delicious bottle of 'Bellini' Champagne.

Dave hadn't arrived yet, but we quickly put a braai together and reveled in our completeness as a family (orbs and all :o) )

I know that ones children are only borrowed to you for a time, but oh Gosh, they are so precious and each second that we get to share with them is like a tonic for the soul.

This is the journal that she bought me from Kusadasi, Turkey....I love it. I totally underestimated how much she understood my tastes! I go through journals like air and water but this one is almost too special to use as a day to day journal. This wll be used during a special time of my life.

MATLA A BANA

I was invited to attended the AGM of an organization called MATLA A BANA on Tuesday. What a privilege! I'm not sure how to create the link to their website
( info@matlaabana.co.za) , but please Google them to find out what they are about. Better still, please support them.

Basically, it's an NPO (non-profit organization) established by Kallie and Monique Strydom...an SA couple who were kidnapped and kept hostage under terrible conditions. Establishing this organization was their way of giving back to their country who, more than any other, procured their speedy rescue.

Matla a Bana's function is to address the huge incidence of child abuse and rape n SA through reporting, support and intervention programes.
At the meeting, I was horrified to learn that, two years ago, it was reported that a child was being raped every 24min..this year, that has leaped to EVERY 3 MINUTES!!! This is an utterly shocking statistic!! We are living in a very beautiful country but there is a horrific sickness within its populace which, I'm afraid, is producing a nation of psychologically injured people.....men and women.

Someone once said, there is one sure way to destroy a nation......by destroying it's women and children!!.

Women are the backbone of humanity, and yet in some cultures, they are treated as sub-human....often, starting in their childhood. That abused child will grow up n fear, sadness, anger and bitterness and thus will her children and children's children, be raised in that legacy.
Mary carried the son of God, Jesus, who is the essence of our Christian faith...and yet, often, not even she, is honored.....not even by Christians!
A MOTHER, A WOMAN, gave birth to every single leader on earth....and yet, often, at best, they are belittled, forgotten, and worse still, they are beaten and they are raped........ as are their daughters and granddaughters!

In previous generations, children lived in silence about sexual abuse.....especially when it involved a family member. Women and children had no voice. They do now!!!!!!

A well known Jewish author and prisoner of a German death camp once said..."success is brought about by 10 % action and 90 % attitude". Our attitude towards the value of our women and children NEEDS TO CHANGE before any action to stop the abuse, could ever make a difference!