Back to Bokkoms

Every time I open my blog, I notice that certain West Coast topics remain the most popular of my posts, even if new visitors pop in. These are the most-visited themes: Paternoster, Langebaan, Saldanha Bay, waterblommetjies, sutherlandia plant, and bokkoms. I have moved away from the West Coast, but I kept my home there and try to return there often. It is also available for holiday accommodation.

188 Sanderling....from our  "long beach" you can see the beautiful Table Mountain.

Since I am no longer living there and travelling the west coast regularly, I have started on many new painting themes, working in sets of 15 to 25 paintings. There were the bunnies, the stitch cartoons, the impressionistic ladies and the children. And now to honour the West  Coast once again, I painted a series of bokkoms.

The full history, process and use of bokkoms were explained in earlier posts which contained these images:

Bokkoms, read about them at this link and here

I thought I would present the Berg River at Velddrif by using a clear blue for the background? Here you can see the resulting paintings.

The three makes a good set for a narrow wall!

I am just endlessly living by the slogan (first heard from one of my lecturers long ago):  NEVER BORE THE EYE.

Thus the next step was for little fish to go all modernistic and Delauney-like, this time to reflect the colours of the little boats (bakkies, we call them) which bring in the fish for drying.

There is a tradition on the river: anybody, even a child, who needs food may collect a fresh harder or two for supper from the brimful boatloads.  In this way the community is supported. “Harders” is what they are called before they are salted and dried. I love the dish and nowhere is there a better place to eat them, than correctly prepared at a Bokkom Lane restaurant on the Berg River’s banks. These are a very fast acrylic sketch and some ink sketches on canvas, depicting my favourite meal.

The West Coast and I

Ten years ago we moved to the West Coast to live close to the ocean. How close? Friends who have seen photos of my home, will know! The photos in this post were taken 80  meters from where I live by friend and photographer Mary Ann Bosch, who absolutely loves the West Coast too. 

In May last year, I lost my husband and  although I bravely declared that I would remain here forever, I slowly started to identify my new role. So I am making a shift to warm Natal where we have lived before, and where my twin granddaughters are.   I will not make any move in haste. I was never a person to be hurried along, but yes, I am gradually taking leave and getting new plans together. I keep a wide space in my heart for the West Coast and for the lovely memories we have collected.

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Post # 200 and The Benjamin Files

I am not a daily blogger, but here I am at # 200 at last, having started in 2009.

Benjamin (1) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

So far I have just not been able to get myself on the road to do some travelling. I am hesitant of the memories, of course. But I am sure that as there is nothing wrong with me or my driving ability, the day will come when I comb the West Coast for more stories. There were no new commissions for January......so here is a theme I have been longing to develop: Rabbits!

I call my new material "The Benjamin Files", as it was the lovely form of the magnificent large velvet black French pet rabbit, Benjamin, that was my inspiration.  I first saw Benjamin, when he became the "guard on the top step" in my daughter's home.

He looks gigantic, does he not? It is because he is rather big, but also due to the colours and the scale of the forms around him. Light blue is a receding colour, which usually makes landscapes look deep and eternal.

Benjamin (2) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

Now, it is not difficult to see that Benjamin is definitely planning something! He thinks that he would like to visit the pretty little yard where Peter and Snowball lives with their six bunny daughters. Forget it Benjamin, Peter will not let you in !

Benjamin (3) 9x12 Oil on Canvas. Part of The Benjamin Files
by artist Marie Theron

So, Benjamin thinks of all the lovely places in the house and garden that belongs to him. He is ready to go! First to the playroom where the girls may be persuaded to let him watch Animal Planet. And when the day is cooled down, they can all go to the large front garden to play outside!

Just a mention: the rabbits appeared in a blog post in a watercolour painting after we went to babysit the pets in October 2011.

A Day in Hopefield

Since I started this blog in April 2009, I have been in the habit of taking photos of "little secret houses" on my travels. I have just painted a house that caught my attention in Hopefield. At first glance it was completely hidden behind a screen of flowers belonging to The Merry Widow Country Inn, a guest house where we stayed the evening after the Gallery opening. Let me tell you about the guest house first.

We were led past a profusion of flowers to a door framed in foliage and flowers. The inside of this "stone cottage" was extremely comfy and we woke up to the pleasant sights, sounds and aromas of a once-a-month farmer's market. We had to choose wonderful fresh bread with farm-made fillings for breakfast! How unique! Just follow my picture story. While having our tasty food, I studied the house I wanted to paint! I hope you like the painting! The small town of Hopefield is filled with such architectural jewels!

A Gallery Opens in Hopefield

A lovely time was had by all when Pêrels & Pampoene Kunsgalery / Art Gallery opened in the little town of Hopefield. Hopefield is inland from Velddrif and one of our famed West Coast "towns-without-the ocean". There is a wonderful trend establishing itself in South Africa, as local as well as overseas visitors discover our small towns. I hope everyone in the country will take the opportunity to visit this town and gallery.I will do some paintings for the next blog, just to show some of the sights in that area.

Here are some photos of the delightful opening night. The second photo is of me and Gretha Helberg, the dynamic young gallery owner. The first and third photos are of me and my paintings. The rest: interiors and exterior of the building.

And I also had the honour of making the first sale, a canvas print of one of my works plus an order for more of those.

Lonely Looking Sky

Lonely lookin sky
lonely sky, lonely looking sky
and bein' lonely
makes you wonder why
makes you wonder why
lonely looking sky
lonely looking sky
lonely looking sky

Lonely looking night
lonely night, lonely looking night
and bein' lonely
never made it right
never made it right
lonely looking night
lonely looking night
lonely looking night

I mentioned Jonathan Livingston Seagull as the source of my title "Facts of Flight" for my three-part series of paintings. The series are finished and I will show the past painting in my next post. Doing these paintings, I am forever studying the shapes of seagulls. As it goes in nature, there are sometimes hundreds of gulls coming over one after the other a few meters from home. At other times, I have to walk a mile or two to stalk a single bird!

This morning I found some good examples of distant birds among my photos, and I hope you liked to see them accompanied by the lovely lyrics of Neil Diamond!

My Art is on the West Coast Route

I live on the West Coast, but now I am also represented in a much visited place along the route, the very special Nuweland Winery at Vyge Valley on the well-known R27 West Coast Route.

Today we hung 13 smaller works at Nuweland Winery and made wonderful plans for the future... including my participation in several Oyster Festivals and bringing in larger paintings! Invitations will follow!

Without much ado, here is the photo of the lovely venue for my art....with opening hours to suit everybody! That means seven days a week! For more info visit their website .

Dolos, one amazing South African invention!

South Africans are naturally very innovative, and we are credited with some amazing inventions! Here I have painted one of the enormous dolosse along the Yzerfontein Harbour and jetty. They are made of concrete poured into a steel mould. So heavy are these structures that they are manufactured here in Yzerfontein or wherever they are needed. Cranes will lift them into place so that they can protect harbour walls and breakwaters and they also prevent soil erosion.10 000 dolosse are required for a kilometre of coastline.

I have to quote from Wikepedia here: "They work by dissipating, rather than blocking, the energy of waves. Their design deflects most wave action energy to the side, making them more difficult to dislodge than objects of a similar weight presenting a flat surface. Though they are placed into position on top of each other by cranes, over time, they tend to get further entangled as the waves shift them. Their design ensures that they form an interlocking, but porous, wall."Wow, the power of water and the cleverness of this invention!

Now, why are they called dolos ( plural: dolosse)? The form is similar to the neck bones of oxen. In the early days of our country, small children would pretend that these bones were their oxen to pull their tiny pioneer wagons. So they were called "doll oxen", which generated into the word dolosse.Then the word was also used to describe the bones thrown to read fortunes by the tribal medicine men, called sangomas. The act of predicting the future was more like "dobbel" which means "gambling". So those bones are still known as dolosse too.

These lovely structures, the theme of my painting and photos shows the third use of the word, and they do look like the neck bones of large animals. Grandson Philip was here from the States, and posed against the dolosse. He could not stop questioning his grandfather about these structures that can be stacked ANY WAY, yet they always fit together.

Elephant's Eye sent me their link to an interesting West Coast ramble that included a lot of information about dolosse. Read her blog HERE

After leaving a comment, you may want to visit some of our more important inventions HERE

Nuweland - Barrels, Baskets and Bottles

Oil on Canvas

18"x14"

(457 x 356mm)

Farm stalls are popular out in the country, and here on the West Coast, such stalls are found along the R27 coastal road . My nearest farm stall is 11 km away and such a treat! Here we can buy fresh home-made bread warm from the oven. On the shelves there are many wonderful preserves, like my personal favourite: green fig preserve, and would you believe, you can also buy farm butter here!

The owner of Vygevallei Farm Stall and Wine Cellar is wine-maker Juan Louw. After experiencing wine-making everywhere in the country and even as far as California and New Zealand, Juan decided that their farm, Nuweland in the Swartland district between Malmesbury and Darling would be ideal for a cellar. Also that Route R27 would be a good position for a wine /farm stall!

It was here that I saw my next painting subject, the beautiful barrels, baskets and bottles, while the family tasted and fell in love with Juan's wines! I love it when the sharp West Coast light casts contrasts of light and shadow inside buildings, as you can see in the forms which I melted together and allowed some detail to dissolve into the background.

Read more on Nuweland Winery and its owner HERE

If your language is Afrikaans, you will be proud to learn that the labels of these wonderful Nuweland Wines are written in Afrikaans! ( Lees die volle artikel in DIE BURGER )

About the Blog Award Finalists I still have no news, but will post links when I receive notice!

Work Horses of the Ocean, Saldanha Bay

The Public part of voting in the South African Blog Awards are closed now. Thank you for all the visitors that I have counted on my blog and if you have voted, many thanks. (Late voters, sorry but our Midnight is 8 hours ahead of the USA. Nobody's fault!) I will publish the results on the next post, and provide my readers with links to the 3 best travel blogs.

The painting shows a morning scene in tranquil Saldanha Bay, and the "work horses of the sea", the crayfish trawlers are ready for the early risers who should soon appear to board them.

Saldanha was named after Admiral Antonio de Saldanha, who anchored here in 1503 to look for supplies. He was unfortunately wounded by Khoikoi men. For some time it was thought that Saldanha Bay would become the docking harbour for sailing ships, but water was unobtainable. Thus Table Bay became the major port for ships coming in for supplies.

Now, after three and a half centuries there might be a reversal of roles. With steel and great fisheries there already, Saldanha could begin to play a role in Import/Export of goods. There are plans to expand Saldanha Harbour and give Table Bay Harbour some breathing space.

Back to my painted scene and photos: what a lovely place this is! I wonder if the seagull and the cormorant are eager for the fishing boats to start hauling in their harvest!

Aloes in the Garden

This is the year that I will have to invest in a book on aloes, as I have just planted my 12th type. In a previous post I painted Aloe mitriformis, the wild West Coast aloes that cover the rocks near the ocean.

In the meantime my own garden grew well and the aloes grew large, and some of them became prolific. I called a large aloe with ferocious thorns "Old Buster". This year at last three fat orangey-red plumes appeared on old Buster! An occasion for a painting done in acrylics on canvas board, making use of paint brushes, toothpicks and cotton buds, all as tools for creating textures.

Aloes attract a lot of birds and you will see in my photos how birds eat down from the top, treating the aloes like corn-on-the-cob! I grabbed a few seeds to dry, and left the rest for these pretty Cape Canaries.