Painting "en plein air" in Wellington

"View at Welgegund Farm, Wellington" by Landscape International Artist Marie Theron
405mm x 305mm (12 x 16) oil on canvas board
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This was the first plein air event of the season, winters here being much too harsh and stormy to venture out. Melissa Sutherland of Vindigo organised the day-long event! With 20 artists at the first event, I can see this concept growing in future! The venue was Welgegund wine farm in the Wellington District where Melissas parents live and farm with grapes. Top on the list for most artists was the lovely old farmhouse in the Cape Dutch style. I searched for a vista of the vineyards as seen through the farm buildings.

Around the lunch table each artist was given a chance to tell everyone about their journey through life and art. The shy ones were prompted with questions and there was lots of laughter and fun. We had a chicken dish followed by tart and mousse made from the fruits on the farm, and everyone had a chance to drink the farm's Welgegund wines. I do not drink wine and broke the heart of the winemakers as I believe this boutique wine has won some of the most coveted awards! 

We finished our works, then had a crit session in the open air. There was coffee and cakes served before we took the road home.

View of the vineyards at Welgegund

Watching the artists arriving.

Annelise Kolbe-Van Wyk in the most admired art overcoat,
me, and Melissa Sutherland, tour organiser

Melissa and her mom, Sheila Camerer served an early cuppa before we started.
Shirley in the background was tutor ready to help beginners.
The lovely old homestead is in the background.

I put the last touches to my scene.

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!

Olives, please!

203mm x 254mm

Oil on canvas

R1250, framed

In the Riebeek Valley, against Kasteelberg, nestle the sister villages of Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek-West. Kloovenburg wine and olive farm is always my first stop on the left, before entering Riebeek Kasteel. The 300-year old farm has the biggest selection of olive products anywhere in South Africa. Bowls filled with the goodies to taste draw me like a magnet into the large cool cellar.


Among my favourite products are olives marinated in a blackberry infusion, pitted dried olives which swell out when used in pasta or can be nibbled dry as a snack, and the large old-fashioned tins of olive oil. The oil is only chosen after dipping many little hunks of bread into many bowls!


Here, I usually buy for home use as well as products to give away, as the packaging is beautiful. and the products superior. My painting shows the walkway towards the cellar door. O, yes there are very good wines under the Kloovenburg lable, and olive oil soaps too....expect to taste and shop for quite a while!

You are welcome, very welcome!

The modern malls have entrances on many sides which defeat the purpose of architecture. First you search for parking in an infuriatingly complicated maze. You better remember that you have parked at R15 on the red coded floor with the fish enblem and not on the blue coded floor with the bird. Then of course there will be no entrance in sight, it might be one floor up in the lift and it may be called Gate 1,2,3, 8,9 or whatever.

So let us rather gather our senses and take the West Coast road. Turn inland into Darling and when you reach the stop street at the main road, cross right over into Long Street. At the end of Long, turn right, and there you will find a truly welcoming entrance. Like the buildings of the olden times which had porticos and lanes to entice the pilgrim towards the main theme!

This is Ormonde Wine Cellars, where you will love the beautiful buildings of the homestead, cellars and tasting room. I love the open gate and the foliage only just hiding the buildings. And is there anything more welcoming and happy than our breezily optimistic National flag? Of course, you just know that the wine produced here, will be wonderful!

At Groote Post

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!