New Dimensions

  The Chinese lantern plant is strictly ornamental. Its bright orange, balloon- or bell-shaped husks make this species prized. You can harvest and dry these husks to use in fall décor and craft projects or simply enjoy their vibrant hues in the garden. Ensure that children and pets cannot access your Chinese lanterns, as ingestion of this species is highly toxic. In midsummer, the Chinese lantern plant blooms with small white flowers, which grow into tiny berries surrounded by a balloon-like husk, or calyx. The husks start off green, then shift to yellow, and finally a vivid orange. When it dies back for the winter, cut down the plant at its base. Its roots will survive the cold season, and when warm weather returns, your Chinese lantern plant will begin growing again. To preserve its attractive foliage for floral decorations, tie the stems of your Chinese lantern plant into bundles, hang them upside-down in a cool, dark place indoors, and replant any dropped seeds next year. Once ...

Today I practised some more in another way. I drew another picture and coloured it in with watercolour pencils and then used some water on a brush to add water to the flower. It didn't work like I expected it to so I used coloured markers to deepen the colours some more. The idea was to see if I could eliminate the watercolour paint. That somehow improved things but the original looks better than the photographed version. So I have now added it above. Here you can read about how I started watercolour painting . Sometimes it's nice to also practise something different and completely new to you. So, I decided to see what would happen if I painted something on newsprint. I was surprised to see that one could manage to paint on newsprint and that it handles the water from the paint pretty well. The result is above.  Recently, I bought painting journals. One was cheap and the other was more expensive. To test the cheaper one first I sketched a picture and proceeded to paint with wat...

This is an update. The picture above is one of my favourites because it is colourful and tells a story. Sometimes I get a sudden surge of inspiration and produce something I really like. I was still very new to watercolour painting and still managed to produce a nice piece of art.  On a recent trip to the Cape I met a lady who owns a gallery in Worcester, Western Cape called Worcester Gallery. She was a real inspiration and gave me her full attention as we discussed watercolour art. She liked the images of my paintings which I showed her on my mobile phone and encouraged me to keep on painting and send some of my artwork to her. When someone you don't know gives you that sort of encouragement, then you really feel more motivated and appreciated. Her advice was that I should pick a theme and master it, which was buildings. Hence my latest effort is in the picture above. I would like her to know that I really appreciate her kind words. I met with two other ladies after that who also ...