December 

Just a belated little update before the tiresome philosophical end-of-year review :P

First and foremost: 
The local magazine feature! Being published was a big first for this year, and having it happen twice was all kinds of exciting! I think I'll elaborate on that in a separate post, since the magazine is still available, and I suggest that you read all about it before I give you the inside scoop! (If you're not a subscriber, I know they're available at Boston's Framed Feather - or are they called Art Shopper now? - and also at Tyger Valley's CNA)

'Painting reflective surfaces' - my middle name.

Secondly: 

I delivered 6 paintings to the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery (and might add two more) towards their Summer Sale (group show). Where members only may exhibit and buy at significantly reduced prices. But you can become a member for only R100 for the whole of 2015, so don't let that stop you! Opening night is 20 January, and sales only begin after the opening speeches - terribly exciting and all that. Looking forward to it, if I have a good January I might just make a purchase or two!

Signed, sealed and on their way to be delivered.

Thirdly: 

Merry Christmas! Had a lovely day with my parents, sibling, our respective partners, and my brother's brother-in-law, who I call 'skoon-neef' (cousin-in-law?) since we've been friends for years, and we're too lazy to figure out what our relation is now. 
Said Christmas included my mom's BEST EVER roast, delicious veggies and my sis-in-law's awe-inspiring Pavlova. And it was a refreshingly cool day - normally I associate Christmas with stifling, sweaty and feeling too full, so this was good. :) Smiles all round.

Fourthly (and finally I should think):

THE DECEMBER SPECIAL! It went SO well! The response is super encouraging, so much so that I'll do this kind of special more often, probably in June-July again I think. I got a good combination of still lifes, portraits and a pet-portrait, which should keep me busy for a while. 
At this stage I have four done, and five to go - and somewhere in-between I have to do a sweets painting for a gallery, AND a large commission, and having all of that going on is the reason why I haven't updated this blog sooner, and also the reason why I now own a white board (is that what they're called?) in the studio, since I started losing track of the what's and when's. But that's the absolute best way to go into the new year. And incidentally a great way of upsetting your friends and family, by being super busy when they actually have time.. oops.

So! Jan's four commissioned December Drawings, some marbles and a cherry triptych: These are all A3 sized drawings on A2 paper, to leave some paper for handling and that he has more options when framing.

*

I LOVED working on these, and I will definitely do some more in the future, any excuse to buy cherries (and consume them in record speed after photographing them) - I'm seriously considering doing some of them for galleries, as they are relatively fast and affordable. 

Ek weet nie of jy die blog lees nie, Jan, maar dit was lekker om jou te ontmoet, en ek hoop jou jaar in Bloem vlieg verby, en dan praat ons albasters in akriel! 

Next time, probably a bit of a look back at 2014, after I've found the time to figure out what I painted when and what I learned from this rollercoaster year! 

 Super Special December 

I've decided to do a December special, since I REEAAALLY enjoy drawing commissions, and I don't get to do them often enough.
For December only, A3 Drawings will be a beautiful round R1000. That is excluding shipping, and a couple of T&C's, but they're rather obvious, (e.g blurry photos don't make for detailed drawings, I can only make up detail to a point! )
If you are interested in a different size, I'm sure I'll be able to make up a great December price for that as well, and if you DO share this a couple of times and gather me some Facebook likes I might just throw in some candy or wrapping or something else discounty and super special ('cause I'm awesome that way)

If you're interested - marike.kleynscheldt@gmail.com

 November update! 

Nadia's Commission
70 x 90 cm
Acrylic on Canvas

So this is the finished Orchid Commission. And below, the new flowers in my kitchen window, since all my herbs died a horrible inexplicable death.

My trusty espresso kettle also died this week, weeping coffee from it's sides all the while. This lil kettle was a wedding gift, and it's been in use (minimum 3 times a day) for three and a half years, through many great times. Luckily we received two at our wedding, so we're still well coffee'd.

This is a quick commission drawing for an old friend who came to visit from Germany, SO glad I finished it in time! (pencil for scale)

And finally! My newly finished Toffee apples (how do you like dem apples?) 

NFS, as they are headed to a private exhibition in Jo'burg early 2015.

The diptych: Toffee Apples in various stages of undress

Toffee Apples in various stages of undress I 
40 x 40 cm
Acrylic on Canvas

Toffee Apples in various stages of undress II40 x 40 cm
Acrylic on Canvas

 Pieces of Parts 

Well. I figure I've waited long enough to post this, and if I haven't, I shall bravely await my punishment.

(If you click on the images they enlarge) :P

 October Update 

My newest work-in-progress, commissioned Orchids from her garden - from the same client for whom I did the single Orchid below. Having return clients is a great thing, not only because it shows their happiness with the previous commission, but also because you've already been through the whole process with them, and you know there won't be hassles. This buddy should be done over the weekend, or early next week. 

Nadia se Orgidee
70 x 90 cm
Acrylic on Canvas

This photo was taken minutes after delivering Layla and Zoe's portrait, and I think it's just about the cutest thing ever. The clients were all kinds of happy, and proceeded to tell me about all the future work I'll be doing for them, including sketch portraits of all 4 dogs, and another portrait of the girls, since the paintings will be heirlooms. And I already have so many ideas, I'm struggling not to push them into action!

Also, while waiting for the pizza, I had a bit of a drawing party with the girls (serious business as you can see) and as if wine and pizza wasn't enough, Layla made me a loom-bracelet - er well she made some of it and then got really reaaaly tired, and her dad finished it for her - AND I got drawings for the fridge (which I promptly forgot to take, but will post pictures as soon as I have them :D )

One can only dream that all future painting deliveries will be like that evening.
Also I have no idea what to do with this bracelet. Except remember to wear it next time I see the girls!

In other news: The Music and Lyrics group show was great - the link to all the work on show music and lyrics - had a lot of fun at the opening, and now I'm prepping and planning and looking forward to future endeavours. Top most a summer group show at Everard Read, and early next year my first group show in Johannesburg. (yay me!)
I'm still waiting for the local magazine feature to come out (did I tell you guys about that?) I think I kept it a surprise, but the local post offices have spoiled all the excitement by striking and I have no idea when what is happening now.

And now I have to go prep dinner and clean up a bit, in anticipation of a paint-filled-weekend - my absolute favourite kind of weekend.

 FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS 

So those paintings I delivered earlier this week was for this, the 'MUSIC AND LYRICS' group show at Rust-en-Vrede, Durbanville. Opening eve is 16 Sept at 19:00 - and I hear there will be live music as well - NICE! 

I was so excited to get the invitation to be part of this since I've been naming most of the sweets in wrappers paintings after song titles and lyrics. And so yesterday, just before dropping the paintings off, I re-read the info about the show, and read that the paintings must be inspired by music. 

Oops. 

So I went anyway, full disclosure, and told them that these are still lifes, most definitely inspired by candy, by wrappers, by lighting and reflection and nostalgia, and the lyrics are just my silly way of tying in music from my childhood; AND they were fine with that - phew! 

ALSO. I've been asked to be part of Everard-Read's Annual Summer Exhibition. I'm REALLY happy about that, since I've been part of their Annual Winter Exhibition for a couple of years running, and this year my work didn't fit in - it was more landscape and figurative painting - so I was quite disappointed, it IS one of my annual occasions to dress up after all :P. And this is very good news since they rely heavily on tourists in summer, and this exhibition is slap bang in the middle of tourist season. Yay me!

So that'll be 21st November 2014 through into to January 2015.

This is an attempt at colour correction. The other photos are so vibrant - acrylics LOVE the sun - that they give you the idea that the painting is very pink, so this is an attempt at showing that the flesh tone is actually flesh tone! (cause I KNOW you were thinking WOW those kids are PINK! Also Ernest the frog never got a closeup, so here he is in all his sarcastic glory.

 Layla & Zoe 

Layla and Zoe
120 x 90 cm
Acrylic on Canvas

I met Thea and Tiaan yeeaaars ago through a friend, and we've been facebook friends since, commenting and liking posts being the extent of our contact. When I started posting portraits on fb - for my solo exhibition, so we're talking 2008? (I think) Thea told me that she HAD to have a portrait of her daughter, we just had to wait for her to get a little bigger, since she was still a baby. And finally the day came, a couple of years and another daughter later!

The idea was to capture their personalities in the painting, and for the painting to have personality as well, in other words it shouldn't look like a photo.
Layla is a little princess - while she hunts for worms along with Zoe, as Thea put it, she just plays with them, Zoe cuddles them and takes them along when it's bedtime! Needless to say, Zoe is a bit more of a tomboy, loves everything reptilian. So we played around with ideas of tiaras and flower-crowns, editing a little alligator into Zoe's hand, etc. I suggested that T&T take photos of the kids at home, since they don't know me, and I wanted them super relaxed and happy, and then take it from there. And T&T show up at my house with 105 photos, and all of them awesome! It took me most of a weekend to work through them, and try to find two that complemented each other, but also showed a little personality - there were beautiful smiley pics of both, Layla blowing bubbles, Zoe sticking her favourite Alligator toy up her nose etc.. Eventually it was narrowed down to 3 or 4 options, and we added this gorgeous bullfrog (Ernest) and more roses and butterflies, and I got started!

I was a little rusty with portraits, so it took me a while to into it. I nailed the faces quite fast, and then realised they were about 18 shades too dark, and had to lighten them without making the contrast too high, and keeping them recognizable nearly killed me. The slightest little brush stroke can alter the whole expression, and its sooo hard to know when to keep something, and when to keep pushing. I tend to fix one thing, and then get carried away while I have that colour on the palette, and when I take a step back both faces are pink, and I end up creating much more work for myself!

But I'm super happy with the end result. I tried to balance the colours and I think that worked out nicely, Zoe's leopard spots echo the background, the frogs green is in the flowers, the top darker pink roses are picked up in Zoe's cuffs and zip, and in the girls' cheeks and fingers, Layla's pinky purple top echoed in the flowers, and the yellow tones in the hair repeated in the butterflies. So in a way the palette of the painting comes down to five colours. 
But of course it isn't that simple ;) 

MY main challenge was keeping the faces 'painterly' but recognizable. In the first week or so I took a step back and realised they both looked middle-aged - I had over-emphasized the lines and shadows, all things that are there, but not things you associate with kids. So I had to work backwards, removing little by little, trying to keep the things that show character and make them recognizable. 

Close-ups

Close-up on angle

Close-up on angle

Some pointless trivia: 
- The pink line of Zoe's zipper is the only part of the painting that I never touched up, it's still the original line I drew on day one.
- Ernest the frog was the first part of the painting that was done

And of course Cat Stevens, not giving a damn.