In Stellenbosch it is not unusual to come across grape vines growing on a small plot in the middle of a suburb, it so nice to see when driving past all the houses. You can expect to find a typical white wall and here I have added winter colours.
The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest of the six Floral Kingdoms in the world, and is the only one contained in its entirety within a single country. It is characterized by its high richness in plant species (8700 species) and its high endemicity (68% of plants species are confined to the Cape Floral Kingdom). The Cape Floral Kingdom thus compares with some of the richest floras worldwide, surpassing many tropical forest regions in its floral diversity
You can't plow here, it's my area.
Winter in the Nelspruit area is dry and dusty, no rain having fallen for months. Grass and other vegetation is brown and dry. When you see a small patch of green vegetation in this vast sea of brown, you can be certain that water is present, usually in the form of a spring. I painted this painting a long while ago and was rather surprised to see that I had written 'whose leaf does not wither', on the back of the painting. I must have been thinking of Psalm No 1 at the time.
Poplar trees are apparently very fast growing; they are used for many interesting things when reduced to timber.
The Mona Lisa was painted on a ply panel made of poplar wood. They are also used in the production of match sticks and last but not least, a certain variety of mushroom will only grow on old poplar timber.
Now after all that, I must be honest and tell you, the only reason I painted them is because I like the shape and their autumn colours. Shame hey!!
We lived in a house very close to a small stream called the Houtbosloop. Crystal clear water and its wonderful sound as it flows slowly along can put you in a very relaxed mood. Now, whenever I want to be reminded of those great times, I do a painting that involves a stream.
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I went to town with colour and got distracted before I had a chance to tone it down, which was my intention. Now I like it the way it is, and that’s the way it's going to stay
Wintertime in the Western Cape is rain time, for rain you need clouds, I have never lived in a place where you see better cloud formations than the Cape, they are fantastic. Weather conditions change very rapidly and at times produce formations and colours that are almost too good to be true. As an artist, I avoid the artificial looking, and try my best to capture more natural-looking clouds and colours.
Fading light and the clouds building up for rain, what a nice way to end the day.