If there is a screw missing, or brakes or whatever, do not fear! This one-horse-cart is going nowhere! The scariest part for an artist, was finding halfway through the painting that the wheels did not match and were not even of the same size!
Groote Post has had so much written about it, for instance that it used to be a central post for mail deliveries from Cape Town to Saldanha. Long before the running of ultra-marathons became an exact science, runners would run the 60 kilometers from Cape Town carrying the mail.
I am still painting scenes along that little dirt road to Darling and have at last reached this farm that is now a producer of the finest wines and a reserve for wild buck. A beautifully maintained Cape Dutch residence houses a restaurant of renown. I think I will be back to do more paintings!
The old cart is for display purposes and to show how wine vats used to be carried. With the horses in the background this little vignette heightens the sense of history. I dedicate this painting to a lovely wine with a nice old-sounding name: Groote Post The Old Man's Blend Red!
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How facinating! Love the painting and story. Okay, just dying to know, is there any good brandy or red wine maturing in those crates.... : )
ReplyDeleteTerrific story and painting - I love the details of the cart and the horse in the background! And Congratulations on coming of age!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the feedback, e-mails, etc I have received in connection with the paintings and stories on my blog. The stories are written directly onto the blog after I have finished the painting. I write them down as they come to me, directly from the heart. You will notice that I am not fond of florid copywriters' type of language, just plain words.
ReplyDeleteThe technique of the horse and background is the same style I used for the painting "O, Look, There is the Mountain".
Interesting speculation about the contents of the vats!!¬!!! Well, who knows, on a farm as old as this, it may be something 200 years old in there, whatever it is!
Interesting post - things I never knew about our history. I had also wondered if the stories drove the painting or vice versa. I am not really a wine drinker - never really acquired the taste except for one particular Merlot, but your post made me want to sit on a stoep with a glass - similar to the effect the film 'Sideways' had on me. I don't know if you have seen it, but if you haven't, let me know and I can lend you the dvd via Lorna. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHi Rodney, thank you for following! I love your comments on my blog! Are you back from your trip?
ReplyDeleteIn the case of a wine farm, I will always try not to paint the historic mansion, which one can see everywhere in books and articles on wine. A certain vignette, a little corner of something will catch my eye, I then record it photographically and keep files and files of such material.I am mostly a studio painter and need my photos for reference (Because I am a little old lady and I am always interested in desolated spots, I dare not paint 'plein aire') Photos can tie you up, therefore I will do some parts in flowing paint and just render some important details more photographically. I was pleased with this painting because it was done in a few hours.
Die perd en ekke verkyk ons aan die onpaarwielekarretjie en sy wynvate. Rol die naam oor my tong: Groote Post The Old Man's Blend Red! Pragtige stukkie uit die wyngeskiedenis kreatief vasgevang met jou talentvolle vingers om die kwas gevou! Lief dit net soveel soos jou beskrywings by elke skildery Marie. Wil nou myself gaan tuismaak en my verbeel ek ruik en proe die eeue oue smaak van goeie wyn uit direk uit die vaatjie :)
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