CEDERBERG

A rugged, wild place full of dramatic beauty!

Indeed, between the rocks and the wines, the botanical diversity, the birds and the stars, we relaxed completely in this quiet environment. As I watched the colours of the rocks and shadows on the mountains change throughout the day I decided to get up at 4.30am to be at the Stadsaal Caves for sunrise.

Guy left me to explore while he negotiated some steep and dusty passes on his bicycle.

I was all alone for a few heavenly hours in this wilderness, left to investigate the series of ancient, spacious inter-leading caves and it’s particularly beautiful elephant rock art painting. The warm early light reaching deep inside the cave, lit up the rocks for a short time, in a pallet of unexpected oranges and purples. The silence enveloped me while I discovered the overwhelming aspects of the scene and time flew past. A sharp whistle tore me from my captivating reverie; Guy was back, looking for me…

NIEUWOUDTVILLE

A quaint rural village shelters among trees in a rather flat landscape, almost untouched by development. In August, one wakes up to discover a dense mist often shrouding the parish. This gives a ghostly impression to the NG Church made of sturdy blocks of local sandstone and the 100 odd year old construction seems to float airily in the morning light filtering through the trees and grass. We explored the streets where the mist still lingered, slowly revealing the profusion of flowers covering the small holdings while the sound of sheep and roosters calling the sun slowly wakes up this sleepy community.

RIOT OF FLOWERS

Heading out of Nieuwoudtville, we intended to discover its many treasures. It is the “Bulb Capital of the World”, boasting to have over 309 of the Cape Floral Kingdom’s species, flowering in August and September. In our eagerness to see flowers, we were too early on the first cold morning and the warmth of the sun had not opened them yet, but while sipping a coffee, the rusty dusted landscape woke up to surround us with the most vibrant shades of orange. Although it was still too early in the season for the bulbs, a spectacular show awaited us. Very soon, the surprise was dazzling in yellows, pink and white as far as we could see and we absorbed the energy of these vast fields of flowers. 

FUN AND FAVORITES

We worked hard and we played…

I always believe that Artists need to give themselves the time to play and experiment without letting their judgmental side produce obstacles to the creative process unfolding. It is important to be able to play aimlessly and allow ourselves to discover all manner of useful things on the way to nowhere in particular. Then, when something interesting starts to emerge, it is time to apply our technical knowledge and refine the techniques until the results trigger a strong response or emotion.

We constantly learn from one another and exchange good ideas. I am always excited to see this process happening during a workshop. The presenters throw ideas at the participants who usually are very receptive, run with the new thoughts and produce amazing results which in turn get picked up by everyone and this develops and grows rapidly in many directions. It is very stimulating and I thank you all for reviving my inspiration that resulted in this last collection of favorites.