It has been interesting how this post has evolved from the initial seed of an idea that revolves around my recent interest in blue shadows. Many artists will avoid using green paint straight from the tube, so the challenge is always to depict greens in a painting with subtle mixes of blue, yellow, and a third balancing hue like red, brown or magenta.
Sable Antelope and Marula Tree. 500 x 700 mm Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 300g.
When painting trees, blue is ideal for the shade areas, and balances the effect of sunlight on trees. The French Impressionists skillfully created green by juxtaposing blue and yellow paint to create the illusion of green.
Roosterhoek Farm House. 250 x 350 mm. Watercolour. (Sold)
Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Burgersdorp Gereformeerde Kerk.
Three plaster plaques details.
In commemoration of the Burgersdorp Gereformeerde Kerk’s 150th Anniversary, I have undertaken this architectural study.
The Organ Balcony
It was a challenge and a unique opportunity to study in detail, and marvel at, the exquisite craftsmanship evident throughout this extraordinary old church. There was so much time, patience and attention to detail during those early days. Everything, from the wooden pulpit & pews to the plaster detail on the domed ceiling; from the stained glass windows to the grand old organ, were carefully and intricately crafted. Everywhere, there are signs of the skills that went into each part of this beautiful building; even in the belfry where a set of bells rings out the tune to Psalm 116 on the hour, every hour, and the main bell is decorated with intricate patterns of vines and roses, hidden away where no-one ever sees, – ah, but God sees! It is a tragedy that skills of this standard have died out so long ago! All we are left with in this disposable age, is architecture, masonry and carpentry that is austere and functional. Building today strives for the minimalist-modern style that is invariably, basic and impermanent.
In October we visited the Bedford Garden Festival on our way to and from Port Elizabeth. We explored the delights of 7 colourful gardens, and took lots of photographs along the way. The dry conditions plaguing the Eastern Cape, had not affected these exquisite gardens, and bore testament to the tenacity of their gardeners. The heat did not deter the car loads of visitors, nor did it bother us. Every garden was a stunning spectacle and a treat for the senses. I hope my sketches can convey in some small way, the treasures that we found at every garden we visited. We started with Chestnut Grove and moved on to Cavers and Kelvinside. Then we came back through Bedford to Maastrom and finally Albertvale. On our return trip we visited Fairholt and Eildon. The six sketches of this series were the views that inspired me the most, but there were many more that I’d still love to paint in the future; and as Henry Miller once said, “What the painter sees, he is duty bound to share”
All the following paintings are pen & wash. Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 300g. size: 350 x 260 mm.
The subject of this post came as a result of my two latest paintings, which got me thinking about the special interplay between Black & White and the racial issues that are a part of everyday life here in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, Watercolour. 350 x 260 mm.Zebras, Mother & Babe. Watercolour & Gouache on black paper, 620 x 430 mm
It is frustrating that racial discrimination continues to thrive here despite the noble ideals that Nelson Mandela spoke of at his inauguration way back in 1994. But I do not want this post to focus on this, but on the visual tensions and harmony that are created in art, when Black & White are explored. The process of eliminating colour from the stage, creates many interesting challenges for the artist and the viewer. So with this thought in mind I hauled our my old Art School portfolio, as many of my first year projects explored the variety of ways that Black & White can be interpreted and made to express the special relationships between the two opposites. Here are some of those examples:
Meerkat Family, Watercolour & Gouache on Grey Canson Pastel paper. 620 x 430 mm.
‘Meerkat Manor’ on Animal Planet has been my favourite Soap Opera on TV for as long as the series has been running. So you can imagine how delighted I was when our own nomadic family of Meerkats set up home ( for a short while) behind our farm shed. There is a small broken window at the back of the shed, just big enough for my camera lens. I could sit there on the Lucerne bales, with my camera positioned through the hole in the window, and the meerkats were totally oblivious to my presence. So I spent many a happy hour photographing the antics and dramas of our own little meerkat family. It was very entertaining and I am delighted with the good photos I was able to take. There hasn’t been much of an opportunity to really explore them with my paints, but since the pressure of the exhibition is over, I have done a few paintings and sketches. Needless to say many more will follow, but here are the first ones: (more…)
To return to that marvellous word, ‘serendipity’; the Warthog post and the Roses post were inadvertently linked when the warthogs tried to get into my rose garden, which you may recall. This time, the last post is linked to this one by this quote from one of my favourite authors, G.K.Chesterton :
“Can the Lion lie down with the Lamb and still retain his royal ferocity? That is the problem the Church attempted: that is the miracle she achieved.”
But the reason I chose Chesterton for this post was a favourite poem I remember from my youth, about the Donkey: (more…)
The Exhibition in Port Elizabeth was our first in almost 2 years. It was a mere 3 days but the Lord blessed us with a successful show, and a trouble-free trip to PE and back with our overloaded old trailer. Also we have so many family and friends, new and old, to be thankful to for making it a wonderful weekend. Our son, John, also came from Johannesburg, to help us with the Exhibition. As we hadn’t Exhibited in PE since March 2006, it was wonderful to have so many of our old friends and patrons coming to visit us.
For those who haven’t seen our Exhibitions before, you may like to see the set of photos that we took, and for those that were there, thank you for making it so memorable!
John drawing. PE,Walmer Park Exhibition ’09Card stand and tables. PE,Walmer Park Exhibition4 corner rooms & 4 entrances made up the exhibition. Tables in the centre.View from the outside of the display, Centre Court, Walmer Park.John (husband) at one of the entrances,& the big Nguni painting that sold on the last day.Another outer corner view. Walmer Park Exhibition Sep ’09Travelling home ! 7 Sep ’09
After the painting of the roses in the last blog-post, there was little time to paint much before the big framing operation. John framed 22 new paintings for the Exhibition. However I did manage a couple of quick paintings,.. (more…)
It is a strange coincidence that this post links to the previous one about warthogs. Last Saturday we had just turned on our recently re-erected electric fence around my rose garden when 4 warthogs came into the garden. I had finished pruning, and wanted to protect the new spring shoots on the roses. We have duiker and steenbuck that enjoy eating the roses.
Warthogs baffled by the electric fence!
The warthogs were most frustrated by the electric fence, and tried in vain to find a way in to the roses. It was most amusing and a great relief that the fence served its intended purpose.
“But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.” -Anne Bronte
At the time of pruning I was also painting roses, from the many photographs taken over the past couple of years. It was the first time I have painted an oil of these roses. The previous oil which was painted in 2004; when we renovated our kitchen, was painted from old roses in books. It hangs over the hearth in the kitchen, and is not for sale.
My Kitchen Roses oil painting, 2004
“Beauty without virtue is like a rose without scent.” (more…)
This post is about optimism and waiting on God’s perfect timing. The Israelites had to wait 40 years to enter the Promised Land, and I have had to wait many years, not so many by comparison , to capture on camera, warthogs running with their tails up. A friend once asked for a painting of warthogs running with their tails up, and I have failed to find any such suitable photographs. I do not like to paint from guesswork, being rather particular about anatomical accuracy. But ever since a family of warthogs have settled on Silvermere my chances have increased dramatically. Well, the wait has finally paid off. However as often happens, one seldom has the camera when sighting the warthogs. Earlier this year though, John Oliver(with camera) and his Dad were walking at Excelsior, the top part of our farm; when they saw the warthogs, and managed to capture them running off. These action photos though blurred, were then enhanced slightly thanks to Photoshop, and these two sketches were the result.
Warthogs. (560 x 250 mm. Pencil and wash sketch, on unstretched watercolour paper.)Warthogs.(560 x 250 mm. Pen and wash sketch, on unstretched watercolour paper.)
These sketches sparked my interest and two more paintings followed. (more…)
To paint… to travel… to combine the two… is to celebrate life. Jack R. Brouwer
“A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.” — Moslih Eddin Saadi
When travelling the long distances across South Africa, it is advisable, as a passenger, to have an entertaining pastime. For some reading, napping or listening to the radio helps while-away the hours. For me the most appealing options are; photographing the passing landscape or sketching it, depending on whether it is a small country road or a main highway. The highway is usually smooth and therefore I choose to sketch, while the small roads are too uneven for painting, so I photograph interesting scenery as we speed past.
Occasionally we have to turn around and return for some better shots of particularly inspiring scenes. On this last trip to Johannesburg last week; we took an alternative route up and therefore found several reasons to turn around: a suburban dam beside the gold mining town of Odendaalsrus with hundreds of feeding flamingoes; a little donkey cart loaded with passengers, on the road from Klerksdorp to Ventersdorp; a colourful cottage with an old grandmother and a toddler sunning themselves on the front steps; and a gravel driveway with some lovely old trees.
On our return from this particular trip to Johannesburg to visit our son, John; I realized that I was missing some interesting scenes as we sped by at 120 kms an hour on the main freeway. Usually much of the sketch is completed from memory, when it has passed us by at high speed, but I decided to photograph the good scenes, and finish the sketch from the viewer on my camera. This has made it possible to include more detail than would be possible from memory alone. (more…)
Last night, while we were watching TV, there was a loud crashing about on our front verandah. When we turned on the light we saw a Small Spotted Genet with his prey, an unfortunate Red-wing Starling. But before I could rush for my camera, he dashed off into the night. The other Starling flew off too and obviously decided this was not a good roosting spot.
Ironically, I have been trying unsuccessfully to discourage the pair of Starlings from roosting on the verandah. I don’t really like having them around, because they rob the nests of other birds, stealing their eggs; and it is very obvious that the other birds don’t like having them around either. Quite often the other birds mob the pair of starlings, trying to chase them away. But the starlings are very persistent and are not easily discouraged. So this incident with the little Genet last night, instantaneously achieved what the other birds and I have failed to achieve!
Red-Wing Starling
However I couldn’t help feeling sadness for the remaining lonely Starling, who could be heard plaintively calling its mate this morning.
Small-Spotted Genet
Some time ago, we found a Small Spotted Genet in broad daylight, outside my studio, in the bamboos. Genets are nocturnal, so it was a surprise to see it! He was most obliging and waited for me to fetch the camera, and I was able to get a splendid photograph. I have never quite got around to painting him, but this latest incident, inspired me to sketch him here. Whether it is the same Genet, we will never know, – possibly !
The regular ritual of feeding the birds inspired this latest set of pictures.
Sketch of The Birds Feeding
Several years ago we raised guinea fowls from eggs found in the Lucerne lands, and rescued them before the tractor went over their nests. We set them under broody hens, which successfully reared the large clutches of young guineas. When they grew up, they re-joined the wild flocks that live around here. But they always return when they get hungry, and many of the other weavers, sparrows and doves have enthusiastically taken to the daily feeding and arrive in large numbers to mingle with the guinea fowl.
Three Guinea Fowl arriving for feeding time
A quote from the Evangelical priest and scholar John Stott who wrote a sermon series called; “The Birds our Teachers”.
“Jesus himself referred to birds in his famous Sermon on the Mount. According to the old English version he said ‘consider the fowls of the air’, but in basic English this is a command to ‘watch birds’. When Martin Luther, the great 16th century reformer, got to this verse in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, he became quite lyrical. He wrote: ‘Let the little birds be your theologians … We have as many teachers and preachers as there are little birds in the air’. So I’ve sometimes said in rather jocular fashion that I’m developing a new science called ‘orni-theology’, – the theology of birds.”
'Feeding The Birds', (50 x 70 cms)Watercolour on Saunders Waterford.
Overheard In An Orchard
Single Guinea waiting for the seed
Said the Robin to the Sparrow
“I would really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin
“Friend I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”
