Thursday, May 31, 2012

on the banks of the great grey-green greasy Limpopo


watercolor
ATC


...and before [the Elephant's Child] thought what he was doing 
he schlooped up 
a schloooop of mud 
from the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo, 
and slapped it on his head, 
where it made a cool 
schlooopy-sloshy 
mud-cap 
all trickly behind his ears.
~Rudyard Kipling, Just so Stories:The Elephant's Child


Sharing at PPF

51 comments:

  1. Very descriptive! I can feel the cold mud trickling down behind my ears! Love the elephant!

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  2. The colors so magically bring this elephant playfully to life!

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  3. oh wow!!!! this is so perfect and the colours are magic!!! well done!!!

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  4. that is wonderful
    "ARRRRRaggggarrrrrahhhh"
    (that's ele for I love the painting you did of me)
    -KAT-

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    1. Haha, that is fun. So glad Elephant's Child approves of his portrait:-)

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  5. First look and I think Wow.. great job. Then I see its an ATC and small.. I am even more impressed. Happy PPF.

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  6. I absolutely am in love with the painting of the elephants. The picture speaks to me. Blessings, Janet PPF

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  7. Absolutely wonderful elephant. colors, layers, folds, awesome! I love it!!! HPPF

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  8. Oh wow your elephant is amazing and reflects the words beautifully. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  9. such a wonderful piece. i love your colors and shading and the words you have shared.

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  10. this is just gorgeous and the words match so perfectly.... do you start with the words first or with an image and then look for the right words... they always work together so perfectly...xx

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    1. It goes both ways:-) I LOVE quotes and have bookoodles of little booklets filled with copied quotes and poems. (yes, I am old fashioned:-) So these words live in my mind and influence a lot of what I do and think. But I do often paint something just because I like the subject, and then I search my little pages, or conveniently hit Goodreads.com - which then gives me more words to ponder and add to my little booklets:-) The Teacher below was painted for the quote. This one was painted for the love of elephants, but when the mud-drops appeared on him, I remembered this quote. But is not always that simple. Sometimes I have to sit on an image for a while before I find appropriate words that help solidify the visual expression.

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  11. Love your painting! It's a very unique way of portraying it. :)

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  12. Love this! The details and colours are so beautiful.

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  13. Hi minnemie, Love your paintings. Thanks for visiting and joining my blog. Likewise I have joined your blog but for some reason I don't show up...I have tried a couple of times, but silly blogger isn't playing for some reason.

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  14. Glorious mud.... there's nothing quite like it for cooling the blood ...

    Great picture, Minn.

    We went to visit Kipling's home, 'Batemans', a few months ago.

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  15. I felt like he was looking straight at me! Beautiful.

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  16. Great, very good work, I like the azulaldos touch. Saludos

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  17. Wonderful work and in such a small space ~ Love the colors, design, composition ~ thanks, namaste, ^_^

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  18. I LOVE your elephants! Your use of light, color, texture just brings them to life. Very inspiring!

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  19. love him!!! is this for sale? amazing colors and all that in an ATC!!!!

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  20. Awesome! Great feeling of weight and light!

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  21. Wow ! this looks really grand !

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  22. What a beauty! I love your colors, so perfect! Happy PPF

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  23. your art astounds me - this is just gorgeous. the colours you choose are always simply perfect. Like Tracey I'm intrigued to know which comes first - the painting or the poem?

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    1. It goes both ways. I left a longer musing about this at Tracey's comment above:-)

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  24. Beautiful painting! Wow. I just love the whole effect of of light against dark. And then I saw that it was tiny! You are a master.
    That was one of my favorite stories, and "the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River" was one of my favorite lines to repeat over and over in my head.

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    1. I know, the alliteration in that line is addicting!

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  25. Wow this is an incredible painting- thanks for sharing!
    Happy PPF,
    Stephanie
    P.S. I LOVE the alliteration!

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  26. Love the colors in this. So good!!

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  27. Your watercolor elephant is absolutely amazing!!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  28. Another Amazing piece of art! I really could see this, huge, on a museum wall...oh yes, it would be Amazing! Happy PPF!

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  29. Beautiful!! What a stunning work..very captivating on so many levels..magical colors..beautiful energy..pure awesomeness!!
    Victoria

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  30. oh this is so beautiful, glad I stopped by!

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  31. AMAZING was the word I was going for too ;)
    LOVE your work - and all the colors that go into it are really intricate and beautiful. LOVING your piece below too. Have a great weekend, xo

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  32. Love your atc. Elephant beauty. Nice job. Happy PPF!

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  33. What a gorgeous little painting! Beautiful elephant and perfect quote.

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  34. Your art is amazing! In reading your profile, I fell head over heels, over the humor in your writing. You have remarkable talents. I am your newest follower. Please accept my invitation to visit my blog. I would be honored to have you as a follower, too. Looking forward to seeing more of your gorgeous art. Connie :)

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  35. Beautiful depth and colour in your painting! And a wonderful choice of subject :0)

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  36. Powerful with a sweetness!! Great color too!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  37. Beautiful elephants! I just love those blues and the olive green. Wonderful texture, too.

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  38. I know I sound like everyone else, but I love the colors and the vibrancy you've created in this painting, it's really cool!

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  39. What a fabulous elephant! Love the colors!

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  40. Loving your stuff. Now following via Bloglovin'.

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  41. Your work is awesome and I'm now following because I really don't want to miss anything.
    I think the way you have the words and painting marry up is wonderful.
    Who can resist a 'heffalump'? I know I can't! :D
    Have a wonderful weekend ~ enjoy.

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