Size: 2000x1600mm
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Year: 2024
I absolutely loved creating this very large fynbos painting. It portrays springtime on Table Mountain in Cape Town. I combined the Protea Nitida (Waboom Protea) with some cream-coloured Everlasting flowers, the blues of Aristea Capitata and Agapanthus Africanus, as well as restios and reeds in the background.
The Protea Nitida is a large, strong Protea species with broad, blue-grey leaves, impressive Protea flowers and strong wooden branches.
In South Africa’s distant past, Protea Nitida was used as firewood, to make furniture, to dye leather and as wood for making wagon wheels and brake blocks for the ox wagons. The leaves were boiled together with sugar and a rusty nail and were then used as ink with which our ancestors could write.
Fynbos plants grow in challenging conditions. Weak soil, strong winds, scorching sunshine, droughts and veld fires are some of the challenges facing fynbos. The Protea Nitida is adapted to cope with these poor conditions. When the flower heads have dried out, the seeds are dispersed by the wind. The flowers, with sweet nectar, are pollinated by birds. When a wildfire scorches the Protea Nitida plant, it will emerge again from the underground roots.
This artwork is part of my Amplify-series:
Amplify:
I am preparing for my first solo exhibition in three years, coming up in September 2024. I am planning to create new fynbos artworks and to do something completely new to me: paint the Karoo landscape, where I recently spend a lot of my time.
I find myself drawn to large scale canvasses, to naturalistic, organic forms as well as drawn to abstraction. I aim to work even more freely and loosely. I see in the works I am creating, that I am increasing the detail of my subject matter and using finer brush strokes with more detail. At this stage, I do not want to over think where I am heading, but just lean into the process and trusting the spirit within me to lead my art to goodness and beauty.
As I walk in the fresh air of Table Mountain, I observe the fynbos plants with all my senses. I look at them intentionally and try to remember not only what I see but also the emotions evoked within me. Similarly, I look with new eyes at the Karoo landscape and see in my mind’s eye the art that will spring from it. I aim to capture my personal view in nature, incorporating the shapes, colours, movement of the wind and sting of the sharp winter air.
I need to amplify beauty around me.
I need to exalt the Maker of all things.