At last we had open skies and took the road inland. We passed through Malmesbury with its giant wheat silos where the country's breakfast cereals and cake and bread flour originate. And then, what I was hoping for: as we started out from Malmesbury to Piketberg, there was field upon field of golden wheat , softly stirring in the breeze as far as the eye could see.
Wheat conjures up many associations and symbols. I see the biblical Ruth bending to gather the fallen ears of wheat behind the harvesters. I see happy folks dipping hunks of fresh bread into olive oil and forever-famished little boys with their peanut butter sarmies. Is there anything else that springs to mind? Please leave a comment and we can all spend the weekend with log fires, cheese, wine, soup and bread. And a few thoughts or discussions on the staff of life!
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At last the wheat fields and it is SO lovely Marie! WOW! Love the little green patch in the centre of the painting - a beautiful focal point. And the farmhouse is beautifully off-centre, leading the eye around the landscape. Now, how big is this? :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for following the wheatfield saga, Maree. I used an unexpectedly large amount of white for this painting, because the field is very blond.It is painted on commercial canvas board 450mm x 600mm
ReplyDeleteHi Marie! Such a gorgeous painting! I love seeing the wheat fields out in my part of the world too. They remind me of an old American song of patriotism:
ReplyDeleteAmerica the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!
O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!
O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
Hi, AutumnLeaves, thank you for your comments and your kind thought of leaving the poem. I was in tears long before I reached a quarter of the way through reading it. Yes, wheat is a mightily emotional topic.
ReplyDeleteThis painting really took my breath away! It is STUNNING!!! Okay - the first thought that popped into my head when I saw it - is Matthew 6:30 "If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire (work with me - it can mean baking bread!) will he not much more clothe you..."
ReplyDeleteThank you for yet another inspirational, beautiful painting-post! : )
Marie, this piece is beautiful. You've achieved a lovely feeling of depth and distance.
ReplyDeleteYour comments about wheatfields had me recalling our 2008 crossing of the United States on a tandem bicycle. We rode through the wheatfields of Kansas as they were being harvested. For as far as the eye can see, there were fields with combine crews working the harvest. The appearance is somewhat different than in your country -- we could not see mountains from the wheatfields, having left the Colorado Rockies some hundreds of miles behind us. We were very aware that we were riding through breadbasket of our country.
Oh Marie, this is great. And time I took a drive up the West Coast to get away from this totally unseasonal rain here in CT.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous piece, love the colors.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful! Marie, you are such an ambassador for our country, especially the wild West Coast which so few people know. It is truly the most rewarding area to visit, our time there has been spectacular and we can relive that now through your stunning paintings.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite pieces from your beautiful collection!
ReplyDeleteThank you once again, all my wonderful blogger-friends, for the comments!
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, lovely painting
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, I can just feel the wind in those wheatfields of yours.
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, a beautiful painting ..sounds like a beautiful place too..
ReplyDeleteHello Marie - found you through Diane's blog from one of your comments on her acrylic workshop. Had a wonderful five weeks in South Africa in 2007 with friends who live at Port Elizabeth, and they planned a 3 week sketching tour for me along the south coast to Cape Town, up the west coast to Namibia border and back through Kimerbley home. So what I am getting at is how wonderful to see your south African landscapes. The wheatfields work is particularly emotive.
ReplyDeletethis is gorgeous!
ReplyDelete