King Protea, Everlastings and Lobelia (Amplify series) 1100x1100mm

Title: King Protea, Everlastings and Lobelia (Amplify series)
Size: 1100 x 1100mm
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Year: 2024

In this painting, I showcased the King of Proteas along with some bright pink Everlasting flowers and tiny blue Lobelias.  The restios in the background are placed against stark, black Protea plant remains from the veld fire of the previous season, reminding us that new life can sprout from hardship.

This artwork is part of my ‘Amplify’ series of paintings. 

I find myself drawn to larger scale canvasses, to naturalistic, organic forms as well as drawn to abstraction. I aim to work even more freely and loosely with fast, confident application of my paint.  I am increasing the detail of my subject matter and using finer brush strokes with more detail.

While creating, I try not 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.

When in Cape Town, I walk in the fresh air of Table Mountain, and I observe the fynbos plants with 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 at the Karoo landscape with fresh eyes to enable me to paint mainly intuitively and from memory.  I aim to capture my personal view of nature, incorporating the shapes and colours as well as the natural elements such as the movement of the wind or the sting of the sharp winter air. 

In this series:

  • I would see a tiny colourful flower in the Karoo and paint it larger or brighter in my painting, repeating and amplifying the colour in other areas of my artwork. 
  • I would see the fynbos flowers and paint more flowers than true to nature, into my composition. Amplifying the flowers to bloom in and out of season!
  • I would see an interesting shape and amplify it by making it larger or more defined on my canvas.
  • I paint on large-scale canvasses (amplify the size). I use the movement of my entire body to paint on this scale. 
  • I would see a shape and repeat it to create a pattern (amplify/repeat the shape).

More importantly: 

  • I have the desire to amplify beauty around me.
  • I aim to exalt the Maker of all things through my art.