Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 10:46AM My friends Maggie and Joan visited me for my birthday 
with prezzies that only artists would know to give to artists ) ... and as in the last two or so visits ... they're MATCHING AGAIN :-)
So, we had to take photos ... don't they look beautiful !!
Fabulous Friends Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 7:16PM I've uploaded images of the two commissions just finished 
and delivered to the buyer. I LOVED doing them ... and plan to do more towards my first Solo Exhibtion ... !
You can see them here: under the sub-gallery "Look to the Hills" or on my artist page on Facebook.
I meant to take a photo of the works up in the buyer's home ... but was dead tired and left with my camera still hanging over my shoulder, unused .... "get some rest Mellon" ... or better still, time for a holiday.
We're new 'old-friends' ... and seem to have an unbelievable synchronistic and magical connection. She'd be talking to someone about the art, and then gets an email from me and vice versa.
On one occassion I'd literally just thought of her, mentioned her to my husband Patrick, and then within an hour bumped into her at a book launch (caught on camera by a journalist as in the photo insert)
Even how we came to meet was incredible: in 2007 she'd been given an article of my work featured in a magazine and kept track of me since. On the day she first mails me to make contact, I had been listening to the radio (which I seldom do) and hear this lady being interviewed about her clinic for epilepsy at Entabeni... and so when her email pops up in front of me I'm blown away coz I just heard her ... she was the lady on the radio!!
We've had many more such synchronistic and magical moments in connecting. It's wonderful.
Fabulous Friends Friday, January 6, 2012 at 9:09AM Maggie, Joan and I will be exhibiting at Fat Tuesday in Kloof again, this May 2012.
We had a great meeting yesterday in Joan's fantastic COOL classroom 
where she teaches at Durban Girl's College.
Besides being an outstanding artist, Joan is a brilliant teacher ... and that's not me being biased ... the results this year again are indicitive ... of her thirteen matrics who achieved a whopping NINE DISTINCTIONS, three 'Bs' ... a 'C' ... and four were in the top 1% of the national IEB. Well done to you all.
An interesting connection is that Joan did her prac under Maggie's guidance as a student teacher.
Now, all these years later, we've all connected where we crit, conspire and create together.
Great times !!!
Fabulous Friends Friday, November 11, 2011 at 5:58PM Joan Martin, Ana de Vlieg and I, decided to join
up together as we work on our sketchbooks for The 2012 Sketchbook project.
It's very interesting to see how three artists who enjoy and appreciate each other's work can work so differently.
Joan's working meticulously through her sketchbook where a story of her life is unfolding. Ana's just started but intends to sketch about her travels ... using beautiful colour and light no doubt ... while mine remains this otherworldly layering of images and textures and found-spaces which right now I've absolutely no idea how I'll pull together.
Joan and Ana's are neatly layed out and prepared ... and I'm fumbling along. Oh boy !! I do hope to finish it by the end of November before I go on December leave, when I intend to work up a storm in my studio with other things that need more time!! Can't wait.
Before we left for Ana's studio, Joan was waiting for me while I dried my mop of hair ... so, Sienna got a brush ... she adore's Joan!
Ana has an absolutely beautiful studio. I've posted a photo from earlier on in the week ... she's busy signing a painting ... a very special painting that guess who now has in her kitchen ... that's right ... me!! :-) My home is a wonderful space filled with warm sentiments, enhanced with incredible artworks from special artist friends.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 2:07PM 
Fiona Veitch Smith - Author and scriptwriterEvery now and then, we get to brag a bit and why not ... life's too short. Fiona and I were at school together not that long ago ;-) ... yeah right ... and as feisty and determined as she was then, she is now.
Increasingly I admire those who are prepared to stand up for what they believe in, to say it like it is ... and so for me Journalists generally rank high on my love-list. Some are awful for sure ... but Fiona's awesome.
With technology being as amazing as it is, Fiona and I re-connected via SA Connect (in the days before Facebook). Fiona had moved to the UK and I'd moved to Durban ... both origionally from Springs ... yes, yes, that far-far-away place on the East Rand.
Anyhow, Fiona wrote two articles on me/art and an armed robbery we'd just experienced ... and I have to say that reading the articles in print was both pretty much weird and wonderful.
We also recollected stories of past, including how we both got totally ill on prefect's camp ... aaarrrgg ... who'd have thought I'd be saying "the good ol' days" ... :-)
Fiona too had just been acnowledged with a fabulous award (I forget which now) for a book she'd just published called Donovan's Rainbow.
She's since written and published many more books, written a whole whack of articles, stories, screenplays and stuff for the stage ... really, she's quite something. She hosts a teaching site for writers called The Crafty Writer
So this wonderful woman, wife, mother, freelance journalist, editior, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher is also my friend. Lucky me.
You can read more about Fiona and her books on her new site here
P.S. Fiona asked me for a painting which I've not yet finished so guess where I'm off to after finishing this here blog ... :-)
Fabulous Friends