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.

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!

Facts of Flight # 2, Paternoster

The three-part series which I started posting, were commissioned for the opening of a new gallery in the West Coast town of Hopefield. We'll be sleeping in a quaint B&B to be able to attend. Of course I will collect material for my blog too!

In the story of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, it is said that seagulls never think about "the facts of flight"! Flight, graceful as it seems, comes automatically to the gulls, as their only concern in life is FOOD! That gave me the idea for the titles for this three-part series. This second painting shows the beach at Paternoster.

I am painting as hard as ever before! Having passed my 68th birthday made me feel that I should go faster! But the Internet has slowed down, I think it is due to the many users here in the outpost where we live. 25 Homes were allowed ADSL in the beginning. Now , without any improvements to the system there must be at least 150 people using it. I battle to visit blogs, and to comment I often get time-outs. One day we will catch up on the 21st century! This is just to say I still love all your interesting blogs!

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!

The 2011 South African Blog Awards

The first leg of the 2011 South African Blog Awards end 7 days from now! Will you vote for me on that large red icon on the right?

This serene tableau at Saldanha Bay caught my eye. The little yacht seemed quite neglegted and not in use anymore. But how elegant are those lines!!! In real estate one often hears about a house advertised as "a decorater's dream". This could be the yachting equavalent!

We owned a yacht with a Lello form and sailed a lot, as I mentioned before, but don't ask me to count the rigging. I battled so much with those thin lines, there was no way on completing the painting that I was going to go back to see whether they were all there!

Don't forget to vote for me in "Travel" on the 2011 South African Blog Awards! (This is new to me, but we are actually encouraged to canvas for votes.....everyone is welcome to vote but only one vote per e-mail address is allowed)

Master and Commander

A large part of the West Coast consists of farm lands and countryside. In between you will find our beloved small towns, fondly known as "dorpies". The atmosphere is rural, to say the least! I often visit Lelieblom Farm and there I have met some other farmers too. I need to see the milk farms especially because the products from Darling Dairies are well known all over the country in food stores. I also needed an excuse to paint a colourful rooster, so here it is!

The picturesque roosters at Lelieblom Farm are known to rush through the house to reach the front garden as soon as a door opens! I chose to paint this colourful red guy! In the painting I placed him in the foreground so that all else will seem small. Look at that assertive stance! As a little girl I was chased by a ferocious rooster, they do that, don't they? I call my painting "Master and Commander", because of the bossy attitude!

My West Coast Calendar and some Websites

My WEST COAST CALENDAR is now available in the year of your choice and can be ordered from RedBubble.

Here is the link, and for book readers, here is the site to find it: www.redbubble.com/people/marietheron/calendars/7661685-west-coast-chronicles. RedBubble calenders are printed on excellent paper and the images (all 13 of them) may be framed afterwards.

Here are some websites where my work can be seen:

To find my blog: http://artistmarietheron.blogspot.com

My fashion fun blog: http://frenchbelles.blogspot.com

Viewing or buying original art: www.Southafricanartists.com/home/marietheron

Calenders, cards and prints: http://marietheron.redbubble.com

10 Questions for West Coast Artist Marie Theron

Great excitement today as I have finally decided to have this blog printed in book form up to the 160th post. I decided to include this interview in the book:

Posted on PORTFOLIO Mon, 14 Dec 2009

Marie Theron (whose work was featured on our blog last month) agreed to answer 10 Questions in this month's edition of "10 Questions for South Africans."

This South African artist was so enamoured of the West Coast that she upped-sticks and moved there to be close to her source of inspiration each day.

Don't be surprised if you feel the urge to move to the West Coast yourself after reading what she has to say about this unique region of South Africa!

10 Questions for Marie Theron

1. What place (in SA) do you call home, and why?

I live in a private nature reserve with my studio 80 m from the sea. This position was full of surprises when I first moved here and I slowly got used to the intensity of Nature. Storms are so totally overpowering that I am always reminded of the ships that were wrecked all along the West Coast. On the other hand one can experience a field of colourful wildflowers starting from our garden and stretching as far as the eye can see.

Close to home...

2. Favourite place to have breakfast near(ish) where you live?

Definitely Simoné’s in Darling. Our attractive young restaurateur is always there to welcome you, smiling and chatting and busy as a bee, and the food is superb. The coffee is very good (important in the morning). Edit 15/08/11:This place is no longer in existence, but now we go to !Khwa Ttu, of course)

3. How does a working day in your life look?

I wake up with thoughts of a painting I am working on. Sometimes I will prop up my latest painting in the bedroom while I drink my coffee, to make sure everything is in balance. As my bedroom adjoins the studio I will often start painting whilst still in my night-clothes. A good day will have two sessions of three hours each for painting. I rest and read between sessions. Housework, gardening and blogging are all done in the periods in-between.

Outside Marie's studio

4. What is it about the West Coast that appealed to you so much that you decided to move there?.

The absence of traffic, the proximity of Nature; and because there are no high-rise buildings and few tall trees, the openness of the West Coast has a very special appeal.

A recent painting: 'Workers in Vineyard' - (near Malmesbury)

5. Which SA artists work do you admire?

Peter Midlane’s paintings always stop me in my tracks. He has a true understanding of the South African landscape and puts it down without the sweet sentimentality one often sees.

6. What inspires you (in your work, every day, in life)?

I think to even become an artist in the first place; you have to be inspired by the lives of the Great Masters of Art. Whether they worked unrewarded and unacknowledged or found themselves prosperous, whether they died young for their country or lived to their nineties; whether weak and sickly or full of stamina and health: hardly anyone of them were idle or sat on their laurels! It was work at any cost!

Marie's latest work - 'Arriving in Piketberg'

7. When you’re away from SA what do you miss?

I determine to enjoy travelling and not spend my time longing back, but of course our ocean, our clouds, blue skies and indigenous flowers are the most beautiful.

8. Tell us, briefly, about a positive or unique South African holiday / travelling experience.

There are many of course, depending what you are looking for: the peace of the Highveld of Mpumalanga or the culture of the cities. I think Lamberts Bay is a lovely experience. The birdlife and sea and boats are magnificent. It is impossible to tire of the gannets. Who can ever eat too many crayfish? And for a Saturday evening with the sun setting way past eight, the Muisbosskerm is such wonderful and relaxed eating experience!

Lambert's Bay - a lovely destination

9. Who is your South African hero, and why?

Can I change that to a town I admire? Then I will choose cheeky Darling, full of breezy confidence. They are as hard hit by the slump in the world economy as anywhere else, but there is no letting up, no slacking. A visitor can find something pleasant to do, somewhere to go almost any night of the week! You will always find smiling, positive people there.

10. Once you’ve run out of inspiration along the West Coast where will you be heading?

It is impossible to run out of West Coast material. I have hardly touched the sea and all it has to offer in critters, birds and boats. There is the San history and the Moravian missions. There are so many fynbos species (a painting of a special plant is coming up on my blog on Christmas morning.) The more I speak with people the more stories, places and legends of the West Coast are revealed, so hopefully I will just paint on and on…….

Awesome Sunsets

Sunsets at Kabeljoubank!!! Having lived here for so many years, our sunsets still remain a spectacular phenomenon! Is there some science, I often wonder, like the science that can measure sound to measure this burst of colour? Should there not be a formula by which I can measure the variety and intensity?

There are evenings when the waves stubbornly "ignore" the sunset and remains unmoved! Then again, like some weeks ago, everything was tainted pink, right up to the pebble-stones at my feet.

I posted some photos of our sunsets and by contrast, the sunset photo I took on the East Coast of Zanzibar last week! I realise that "Bambi Boerbok" has been on show on my blog far too long! Now you know where I've been! :-)

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.