‘Fireflies’

24cmx36cm Acrylic on 300 gram paper

Blossoms on the tree outside the luxurious room at Nyati.

Fireflies and stars. The distance hoot of owls. The melody of the Night Jar. Silence. The hills, distance shadows. The great elephants, at one with the dark.

Sound. A scene brutalized in cities, and even in our quiet town of Knysna. Here, where nature rules, sound is everything. Great molars crunching tree branches. Stomach rumbles. Leather slapping against leather, as these mighty beasts test their strength.

The light, such that William Turner would weep. My paintings a poor representation of its startling clarity?

Perhaps the secret door into a different type of painting that doesn’t even contemplate reality, but looks to capture the light?

Terry’s, Otto-Lingie inspired salad of courgettes, ‘saviched’ in lemon, with pecan nuts that worked perfectly with the lamb loin chops. A braai-broodjie starter after my birthday Terrine-de-compagne and micro greens.

First sighting of Meercats! Phenomenal!

A painting (24cmx36cm Acrylic on 300 gram paper), from a photo from Santi, of an elephant herd at Nyati standing guard over a tiny sleeping elephant calf. The green of Nyati, at odds with the dryness of Addo.

Colour swatch of pigments used in my paintings. The colour of the sand, a tad problematic. Particularly as I left the Raw Sienna behind! Burnt Sienna and Naples Yellow, with Titanium White the closest.

The flightless dung-beetle in the corner of the page.

Rain. Pula!

Salmon trout on the braai (even in the rain), served with tender stem broccoli and beans. Crumbed, toasted porcheta and roasted almonds, touches of genius. A starter of Gem lettuce cups filled with snoek pate and tomatoes.

‘Nyati’

24cmx36cm Acrylic on 300 gram paper

 

The rooms at Nyati perched over the river looking out over the floodplain to the Zuurberg Mountains.

‘Zuurberg’

24cmx36cm Acrylic on 300 gram paper