Sitting here in ninety-nine percent Zululand humidity, watching my hair expand to the size of a king protea at the start of our rainy season, this painting is basically a postcard from sanity.

Pure, unadulterated Cape fynbos on canvas, entirely unbothered by sub-tropical sweat. The impasto texture created with a palette knife and silicon blades is thick and textural giving the  petals sharp, buttery ridges.

The color palette is pure, glorious nostalgia. The fiery coral pinks, warm ambers, and dusty eucalyptus greens feel like a crisp morning hiking up Lion’s Head, while the muted, sandy background has that dry, sun-baked earthiness I haven’t felt since I traded kelp sea breezes for sugar cane fields and salty humid sea air.
And then, anchoring the whole chaotic burst of mountain flora, is that classic blue-and-white Delft-style ceramic ginger jar. The cool indigo and cobalt strokes give it just the right glossy, porcelain weight against the scratchy, feathery foliage. All exciting contrasting colours giving the painting a vibrancy.

Now, if someone could just paint a cool Atlantic breeze into the room to go with it, my homesickness might actually drop a degree or two.