After recently leaving my teaching post in Dar Es Salaam to move to Nairobi for my husband’s new job, I now find myself ‘in between jobs’ and consequently at a rather interesting crossroads in my life. The million dollar question, well, million shilling question is this: Do I continue with teaching Art and English or do…
Tag: travel sketchbooks
Sketches of Tanzanian Markets
My family and I are in the process of relocating from Tanzania to neighbouring Kenya; so as one East African adventure closes, another begins… Although I may have physically left Tanzania, I am still keeping my memories alive by finishing off drawings in my sketchbooks. These sketches will go towards bigger art projects, involving acrylic…
A few of my favourite things – sketching, camping, watching the sunrise and listening to The Pixies
Much as I like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, my favourite things list is more likely to include camping in remote places, sketching and painting, watching a sunrise and listening to alternative music. So when a recent holiday involved all of the above, I was happier than a Von Trapp child having a…
My Pen and Ink City Panoramas
A few years ago when I was going through a minimalist phase I did lots of simple pen and ink sketches, trying to capture faces, places and buildings in just a few black lines, by reducing everything back to its basic elements. Part of this project included a series of panoramic sketches I did of…
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.
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…
Easter Resolution – getting back to my sketchbooks.
Over the last few months I have been so horridly busy, both at work and at home looking after my three children, that I have barely had enough time to sleep, let alone sketch. So I have set myself an Easter Resolution of doing more art work, initially in my sketchbooks and later moving onto…
Monkey Shenanigans in my Back Garden.
Before moving to Tanzania I stumbled upon a blog post written by a teacher who was working in Mwanza, about how her whiteboard pen had been thieved mid-lesson by a cheeky monkey. I remember thinking that this would be one of the best teaching anecdotes ever which I could only dream of experiencing first-hand and…
If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Children from the poorer corners of an East African city received English lessons, food and presents all in the spirit of Christmas. Yesterday after learning English, Maths, ITC, Swimming and Art, as part of an outreach programme at Mwanza’s at Isamilo International School, the young people enjoyed a meal, gifts and a show. Plates full…
