Thursday, January 15, 2009

Last sea sketches

The last of my sea sketches - that's a seagull sitting on top of the beacon, which the kids swim out to as a rite of passage into bragging rights beach-champ status. I hope to do a proper painting or two at some stage from them when my studio is sorted - I wish I'd done that for the start of the new year so I could get started while full of enthusiasm and energy from the break.
We once stayed in that house on the cliff for a long weekend - it's called 'Listen to the Ocean', and of course that song runs endlessly through my head whenever I see it - fantastic views up and down the coastline, and back towards Kassies Baai village, a national monument with it's famous 200 year old white fisherman's cottages, painted countless hundreds of times by artists over the years. I felt too voyeurish to sit there and sketch people's homes but I took a few photos from a distance and may paint from those too.
Listen to the ocean,
echoes of a million seashells
Forever it's in motion
Moving to a rhythmic and unwritten music
That's played eternally

11 comments:

Art with Liz said...

Cath you've really done the Cape proud! These are fabulous.

Cathy Gatland said...

Thanks Liz, I so enjoyed being there and being able to splash about with paint...

Cathy Gatland said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cathy Gatland said...

Oops - I double-clicked on my reply so had to delete the 2nd one - its not another phisher!

Gillian said...

These are beautiful, C. I'm so ready for an Arniston holiday...

Teresa said...

These paintings are just beautiful... I'd consider them as "perfectly proper"!

Rose Welty said...

Cathy, these are lovely sketches! You watercolor people amaze me.

You commentedon my blog about "stretching" the text...I just use a template. I think you already use the "minima" template. You just want to switch to the "minima stretch" one. It's the same, just stretched. I'm sure it is just a line or two of html, but why mess with the html when you don't have to? Your header and page elements should all carry over. If you made any font changes or color changes you will have to redo them - but it doesn't look like you have done too many to me. (Oh, and any code that you put in for stats tracking will probably have to be put back in. )

Hope that helps!

Cathy Gatland said...

Gin, one day we'll have a hol in Arniston all together...:)

Teresa - I never am sure when a sketch becomes a painting, but thanks!

Rose, thanks so much for your help - I need to take some time to work on my blog look and layout, I just don't know when! - but that sounds simple enough (code and stats tracking are way beyond me!)

Helen Percy Lystra said...

I love the looseness of these... wonderful work.

Suzanne McDermott said...

The wave pattern in the top sketch with the buoy reminds me of a Fair Isle sweater pattern. Fabulous rhythm.

Sharon said...

so peaceful, im there! makes me miss the Cape! and the quiet, cool, morning strolls on Llandudno beach, joined only by the "maids" walking their dogs, and a few people doing it themself :)