Inanda Country Base

Sorry to be so scarce, so much going on - more on my to-do lists than actually getting done, but I don't  function very well when pre-occupied, as I am. I should be back to normal after July and my daughter's wedding, but the days when I had long hours to sketch, post, visit lots of blogs and leave comments, seem to be a very distant, nostalgic memory! Thank you to everyone who continue to visit and comment, I so appreciate it - and it was lovely to hear from some old familiar friends recently!
These were from a sketchday at Inanda Country Base stables about 2 weeks ago. I'm not very used to horses, or drawing them, and was disconcerted by how very large and curious they were - they had to come right up and see what we were doing, and attempt a nibble at brushes and watercolours. I feel I'd need to spend a few weeks just looking to do them justice, but could only stay a couple of hours. I spotted a figure coming towards me down the avenue and quickly sketched her before she reached and walked past me. Then the little group of children gathered around and delightedly recognised my sketch as the youngest child's mother. That was it, they had to draw, and be drawn, and were gratifyingly thrilled with it all. Hopefully it will have sparked an interest for life..?

The Fire Walker

Our sketching group was privileged to be invited to sketch in William Kentridge's garden last week. The artist himself was away, but the place was abuzz with gardeners and its designer, who gained permission for us to visit - house and studio staff, personal assistants and visiting builders and workmen - really a full-on business in motion. We were allowed a peek into the huge studio where some exciting work-in-progress was displayed on shelves and walls. After an exhausting climb to the top of the garden to see the stunning views, I settled for a section of the garden in which a smaller version of William Kentridge and Gerhard Marx's 11 metre high FireWalker sculpture strides under an old fig tree. (I was struck by the holes in the fig leaves echoeing the holes in the sculpture and spent too long trying to depict that!) From various angles, the sculpture looks like scattered shapes of black and white metal plate, but when you see it directly from the front, they join together to form the figure of a woman, often seen around the streets of Joburg, who cook and sell mielies (corn) and meat over their fire braziers, carried to and from work balanced on their heads.
Ah, me and William K, working and drawing in the same inspiring surroundings...who would have thought!!