Title: Restio, Pincushion and Watsonia (Perception series)
Size: 1100 x 1100mm
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Year: 2023
In this large oil painting, I combined orange Pincushion Protea flowers (Leucospermum) with bright orange Watsonia flowers and Restios (reed-like fynbos) and some blue Lobelias. I often use Pincushion flowers in my art. I love the shapes created by the needles on the flower heads. The orange or red Watsonias flowers bloom spectacularly in Spring and early Summer on Table Mountain, where I often hike. I love the vertical lines and interesting shapes of the Watsonia flowers. Watsonias are close to my heart. When I was born, we lived in Watsonia Street in George and the obstetrician who was present at my birth, called me the little Watsonia of Watsonia Street. This must have started my love for fynbos for the years to come!
This artwork is part of my “Perception” series:
Perception:
The way in which my sensory information is identified, organized, experienced, and interpreted, is my perception of the world I live in. The quality of being aware of my physical and spiritual world – through my senses, allows me to make sense of things happening in and around me.
When I perceive fynbos plants, I recognize, take in, and comprehend the shapes, colours, and textures that I see. I look at them so often, that I capture them in my memory and understanding. When I portray fynbos into a painting, I create something new. It is not merely a reproduction of the physical – it is my intuitive creation through personal perception. It is the way in which my subject is regarded, understood, or interpreted.
I do not do this alone. I perceive the assistance of a higher power within my creative process. I perceive that the Creator of the universe is using me as a tool to create art for His glory. I allow the deity to use my perceptions to make original art in me and through me for the benefit of people around me. For those who find pleasure in my creations. Those who view it, as well as those who own it. I aim to create beauty. To magnify the goodness in nature and the goodness of the Creator.
This is my art. This is my perception.