Oranges and lemons…

When we bought our house we inherited a lemon tree with an orange branch grafted onto it. It is very strange, and many people do not believe such a thing is possible 🙂 It is a magnificent tree, providing us with nearly a year round supply of lemons and Seville oranges. Well, we think they are Seville, they are quite tart but very nice added to juices.  They are full of pips though! The leaves and blossom are quite different too; the orange blossom smells glorious when it is out. The ones I picked today for this picture found the lemon leaves quite pale and yellow in comparison to the orange leaves.  Having arranged them nicely to sketch and paint, I found the leaves seem to move on their own! Most strange…..Watercolour and ink.

Our tree, just outside the back door.

Deer antler and flamenco rose

I have started my art course;  the first introductory part is really looking at HOW to study at higher level. I hadn’t picked up my pencils all week, which was most frustrating. However, at the end you choose a subject to research and I choose Georgia O’Keeffe, because her work is AMAZING and I particularly love her skulls and bones juxtaposed with flowers. So this was an excuse to do an homage to her… deer antler found by my man up in the woods and a black, silk and net rose of the sort worn by flamenco dancers. Yes, I have worn it….

Ink pot and brushes used.  Not a patch on Georgia, of course (!) but I was not too unhappy with it. 🙂

Flowers from the Friday market

I bought these daisies down the Jimena Friday market and started a rough sketch that afternoon. It is a real treat to get fresh flowers most weeks and they only cost a few euros. I then came down with a hideous cold and have not felt like doing anything until today, by which time a lot of the leaves were dying and the flowers had opened up…it all looked very different! Anyway, I inked it over as a fast sketch and then used some watercolour to add a splash of colour.

By the way, cold definitely caught on the plane flying back from the UK on Wednesday. I am unbearable when ill, as my poor husband will surely testify… 😉

The cork oak clings on…more adventures with my ink pot

This cork oak tree is valiantly clinging onto a collapsing bank, it is actually tilting at quite an angle and I will add some photos to show you. The cork bark has been harvested off the main trunk but not the branches, which is why they look thicker. This tree is up a steep hill over the river to the south of Jimena. I am enjoying working with my ink pot and brushes! I love the drama and simplicity of black and white with shades of grey.

I am currently in England with my parents so WiFi is limited to my Dad’s wind up machine 😉 so please forgive me if I don’t get to answer any comments quickly. I’ll catch up with you all very soon. Wendy x

The way into the woods

At the north end of Jimena de la Frontera is a lovely wooded area, with some wooden platforms/viewing points that afford amazing  views down into the river valley or back over the town. I snapped a photo of the stone steps leading up into the woods and worked from that using a pot of black ink and a couple of brushes. New year, new things to try! 🙂