I have been doing a lot of sitting down this week – and no, it’s not because I’m lazy, but for two reasons; because firstly I sprained my ankle and can’t walk and secondly I have been working on three paintings to enter for a competition. What I have learned from this week is that…
Category: Travel Paintings
Dadas at the fish market
I’ve been painting this picture in my head for months now. The Kivukoni Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam is always busy. Both inside and outside the market walls there are scores of people; inside fishermen and traders huddle together around the many different catches of the day, outside house dadas dressed in brightly printed…
Swedish Summertime – and the living is easy
One of the things I learnt about Swedish people in the three years that I lived there, is that they really know how to celebrate and enjoy the summertime. In a country that is cold and dark for muc… Source: Swedish Summertime – and the living is easy
Buying and Selling Bananas in Kenya
This is my latest painting, a watercolour of a group of women buying and selling bananas and mangoes at a street-side market in Kisii, a town in south-west Kenya. The painting was done from a quick sketch I did some months ago while travelling from Mwanza in Tanzania to Nairobi.
Endless Abstract Land
Endless Abstract Land is my interpretation of the Serengeti and is painted using ink and acrylics. Serengeti comes from the Maasai Maa word Serengit and means endless plain and this vast area of grassland spans northern Tanzania and southern Kenya and covers approximately 12,000 sq miles. As I travelled through these immense plains, which are…
Livin’ La Vida Loca
About a week about ago, I was “talent” spotted to work as a freelance designer for an international clothing manufacturer. The company, VIDA, are based in San Francisco and essentially make women’s tops, scarves, bags and wraps. So I’m thrilled to share with you some of the items from my latest collection on VIDA! This collection…
Painting is Just Another Way of Keeping a Diary
I was asked to paint some pictures for staff who were leaving Isamilo International School in Mwanza this year. These images were the results. Which one is your favourite? I am now off work for 8 weeks… so plenty of time for painting, sewing and lots of crafty fun. And as Pablo Picasso once said:…
Rock City Paintings
A few weeks ago my husband and I took advantage of visiting grandparents to have a sneaky evening away without our three young children. Mark had previously won a night for two at a Tunza Lodge, a local beach resort. And when Bill and Joan came to stay, we decided to grab the…
Celebrating the festive season in Tanzania and beyond.
This is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite time of year. Past Christmases and New Years have seen me dancing until dawn in Amsterdam, drinking champagne on the streets of Coimbra, sledging in Stockholm, having tea with a group of Bedouin women in Petra, visiting Sylvia Plath’s grave in West Yorkshire, raving in…
Painting with Kerouac
I have spent the best part of today battling with (a) the lack of light due to a day long power cut, and (b) my new mischievous kitten Kerouac scampering over my sketchbook and watercolours, trying to add some colour to this painting in my sketchbook. However I persevered and this is my painting of…
The Hibiscus Thieves
Since I’ve been in Mwanza two things which I’ve enjoyed seeing are the little black faced monkeys who regularly visit our garden and the large colourful hibiscus flowers which grow everywhere. However, I have noticed that remnants of these stunning flowers were often strewn on the lawn. I didn’t know why, until now. While I…
Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.
One of the many joys of living in Tanzania is the amazing fruit you can buy, for next to nothing. Back in Blighty people struggle to eat their “five a day” but here you can get your quota in, just for breakfast. At the moment, my breakfast selection includes papaya, passion fruit, watermelon, pineapple, banana,…
