A Beautiful Country Church

There is something special about a small country town. On approaching one already sees the church spire dominating the skyline. Small towns, large churches! Here on the West Coast it seems as if there have always been seats for every citizen of the the town. I was astounded to see the Dutch Reformed Church in Hopefield up close, never having seen a church where the colour black was so successfully integrated into the structure!

So how does one paint a 19th Century building with all its filigree, turrets and detail? As I have done at Malmesbury before, I decided to find an interesting section to paint. The painting was done in a single three-hour session using the wet-in-wet oil technique. I used an angled brush (shader) throughout, using the sides and the edge.

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.