It has been impossible to link these three paintings with a theme, other than that they are the latest big orders that have challenged me since the last post was written. All are completed and have gone off to the respective clients. I did not schedule an exhibition this year, so have been blessed by these 3 good orders. How bountiful is the Lord in taking care of our needs!
Today I finished two paintings that brought to mind the beautiful Bach melody, ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’ , from his Cantata 208.
If you haven’t heard it or can’t remember it, you will find many lovely versions on YouTube.
Our sheep here on Silvermere do not graze safely, unfortunately. Predators like jackals and lynx are a constant threat and an ever increasing problem that has driven many neighbouring farmers to change over to cattle ranching instead.
How comforting it is for us to know that we have an all-powerful Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, who cares for us. He overcame Satan and rescued us when He died on the Cross, and rose again for our sake. No matter how we are tested and challenged, He is our everlasting Saviour and Protector;
11 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13 I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live. 14 Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!”
-Ezekiel v 11–16. (NLT)
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.
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.
Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Burgersdorp Gereformeerde Kerk.
In commemoration of the Burgersdorp Gereformeerde Kerk’s 150th Anniversary, I have undertaken this architectural study.
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.
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 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!
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.
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.
“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.
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…)