More trees!

Trees are hot! I went down to the orchard again and painted some more – one in a nursery and two in a lounge.

Branching out

I recently made a trip to the town of Ceres to paint trees in a beauty salon. Nestled between the slopes of the cape mountains, temperatures soar to crazy heights in summer and drop to nothing in winter. I was one sweaty painter!

My trees were a success and I finished in time to paint the words of a poem on a bedroom wall, written to a lady by her husband for their wedding day. How special!?? Needless to say I enjoyed my time amongst the orchards of Ceres immensely!

I made a pouf! Heehee :)

What a funny title for a post. It’s been a while…

I always envy crochet poufs when I see them in magazines and shops and I picture myself lounging lazily on one of my own, so I made one! Now I want them in every colour and every size!

By the sea

Whenever a project pops up where it’s something that is in view of the public I get very excited. It is, after all, a chance to ‘exhibit’ something permanently. Most of the work I receive is from people seeing things I’ve done by chance and by word of mouth. It’s also such a joy leaving someone with something they can proudly show off to the world.

Yesterday I started on a mural in Parklands. My client’s home has a beautiful, fresh, nautical theme and she wants to extend it to the exterior. What better than dolphins, waves and a glorious sea-faring vessel to bring the ocean to your doorstep!? The wall has a reasonably rough texture. I started by mapping out the design in grey.

I decided on a sponge as my weapon of choice and laid down a sandy colour washed with grey and white. Starfish, the markings of a nautilus and water stains gently balance the strong waves which the dolphins ride upon. My next step will be to lightly wash the darker areas with another layer of white in order to make it look more misty.

And finally, the dolphins and details. 1 x happy client = 1 x happy Judyskoo!

Let’s get stoned

I LOVE stone cladding. I really do! I’ll be so happy if I could do this again. My client was unhappy with their braai area and decided to jazz it up a little. She saw painted stone cladding at a restaurant she visited recently and fell in love with the look. It was great fun working with washes and spunges! We are very happy with the result.

Writing on the wall

Our little town is filled with excited people planning exciting things. Yzerfontein is always packed during the December holidays and one of the events companies in the area, I love Yzer, wants to brand one of the buildings next to the road leading into town.

That’s where I come in! It’s a large wall so there was a lot of plotting and planning to do. I managed to finish the logo on the first day!

Now for the lettering next to the logo!

Mellow yellow

I have developed this obsession with yellow recently. And I have these balls of yellow yarn begging me to use them. And my boyfriend has an idea for something to be painted in the lounge that’s yellow (more on that later) So we are running with yellow.

My mom sat on the couch next to me, paging through a craft magazine and mentioned how beautiful these crochet bowls and baskets are. I recently saw one myself and that’s when the yellow light bulb switched on! I jumped to it and had an amazing coffee table accessory by the end of the evening. Now I want them in a million different colours all over the house, which I know will drive my poor boyfriend bonkers! Well, if he can have his yellow wall, I can have my yellow bowls and baskets. 🙂 I’m excited to start on the wall and can’t wait to show you the final product!

Snow white and the seven dwarfs

I am so privileged to be able to work in this wonderful winter sun Cape Town is currently blessed with. To tell the truth, I felt a little toasty by 3pm and was very much looking forward to the cool beach air of my evening walks with the dogs.

Day 1

I am painting a little girl’s play corner in a garden in Yzerfontein. I’ve never done Snow White, so I’m super excited and can’t wait to stand back and see the final product. The winter morning chill makes it difficult to move quickly, and the shade created by the angle of the wall causes the paint to dry very slowly. Thankfully the sun starts warming everything beautifully by 11am. I’m holding thumbs that the paint had enough time to dry properly before dark. It’s going to be a long night worrying about damp and morning dew!

Day 2

Although it might look like nothing new has happened, I finished the top half of the background today. I only had a few hours today and I’m satisfied with the progress I’ve made. The finished bits are also sealed with a clear coat of varnish now, so I can rest easy knowing it won’t be damaged by the weather. Thanks goodness all was well this morning – no runny paint! It’s only happened to me once before in the middle of a very rainy season, but the possibility still freaks my out a tad. I remember how disappointed I was seeing the runny mess the following day and now I do everything I can to prevent it. I hope to complete the rest of the landscape tomorrow. Then it’s time to move on to the fun part! The figures!

Day 3

The entire background apart from the cottage is now complete. A few minor details like shading underneath the characters will still be added. It’s time to rest and enjoy a well deserved weekend. I’m excited about the next phase though!

Day 4

With the base colours of all the figures finally down, it’s only one or two last stretches before I am finished. The end of any project can really play tricks on you, as there is always a little more to do than you initially think. Right now it’s a case of ‘pick up the brush and start on the left’ – all the big areas are done and we are left with smaller bits and pieces all over. I’m really happy with how it’s looking so far and I sincerely hope that my client is too! The temptation to finish Snow White first is huge, but I will leave the best for last.

Day 5 & 6

Finally! Time to finish the characters! The sun shone beautifully at first and I managed to finish the dwarfs on the right side and the cottage. The weather prediction was looked positive and day 6 started out great. An hour later mist started rolling in from the ocean and it kept coming and going throughout the rest of the day. I was determined to reach my goal and soldiered on through the chill. My wonderful mom helped me so much, holding a hair dryer over the fresh paint to speed up the process! It was growing dark by the time I finished with the chalk board paint, and I couldn’t move my fingers or toes, BUT I DID IT! And guess what? My client is so happy that she asked me to extend the forest over two more walls. I can’t express how happy it makes me when my clients are pleased!

Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I promise to post pictures of the extended forest as well!

Forest extended

Turning Tables

It completely slipped my mind that I have this amazing platform to share the things I do with you, and I should be tapped on the wrist! Without further a due, here is my story of how I’m turning ordinary coffee shop tables into something special.

I’m working with a palette of beige to brown, grey, black, white and red, and I’m having the time of my life! My client asked for all the tops to be different and gave me the reins. I gave them all a slightly burnt, antique look so they all have a certain ‘feel’ regardless of how different they look.

The wood was roughly sanded which was a perfect start to the old look I’m going for. I used acrylic paint as a base and dirty rags with drawing ink for my washes. Details are rounded off with ink pen here and there. This is my method for most of the artworks.

I used silver paint as a base and highlight in these and lined it with a black pen. I like the reflective quality! From one angle it seems shiny white, but dark grey/black from another.

For this one I painted the letters with a very dark brown ink and washed over it with a damp cloth so that only dried bits of lettering stay behind here and there. I filled in the rest with coloured pencils and lined it with pen and runny ink.

These images are screen-printed onto the surface. I washed over the edges with dark brown ink again to tint the white roses slightly and drew the dashed line with black pen. Such good fun!

Jezebel

Today I painted a nude. Believe it or not, it’s a first for me. I loved the process! I decided to combine acrylics and drawing ink, and I am totally in love with the result. It’s a small canvas, which was a challenge for me because of my love for all things big and chunky. I’m excited to start the next one!!