Abundance: Lion’s head with sugarbush

Title: Abundance: Lion’s head with Sugarbush
Medium: Oil paint on stretched canvas
Size: 1100 x 1100mm
Year: 2021

When you hike on Table Mountain – up the Saddles route – and look back onto Lion’s head, this is the view that you see. The back of the Lion – as he watches over Cape Town.

I aimed to capture the Protea Neriifolia (sugarbush) in full bloom on a cloudy day when the colours of the fynbos were deep and vibrant.

For the past few months, I have spent every Tuesday morning hiking around Lion’s head with a group of very special friends; making Lion’s head our church with no walls. These women are such blessings to me, and this painting is a tribute to the Gebedsgroep and the Bergblomme.

This series of oil paintings, (started in the 2020 Lockdown) stand in stark contrast to the tense times that we find ourselves in – with many challenges and restrictions. In these paintings, I celebrate Spring and Summer in Cape Town.

I chose themes for my artworks such as ‘Overflow’ and ‘Abundance’ to bring pleasure, colour, hope and freedom into our lives.

 I used fynbos plants as my inspiration but deviated from the original colours and shapes early in my creative process, as I wanted to portray freedom in my mark making with vibrant colours and strong contrasts.

My aim was to show the abundance of nature after such good rains in 2020 – with a thankful heart. I want the ‘Abundance’ of the subject matter to ‘Overflow’ off the canvas – just as provision and blessings overflow in my life.  May this work bring hope and light wherever it is seen.