Free State province in South Africa is, for the most part, a very flat, grassy plain, that gets hammered by the fierce African sun. By the end of the dry season, even the sky looks bleached out. Under such conditions, it's good to know trucks full of drinks are always on the way.
Acrylics on Masonite, 10 x 15 cm:
You see this often when traveling around the countryside: somewhat dilapidated, but clearly still used, buildings, sometimes seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I always wonder about them. What are they used for? Storerooms? Toolsheds? Why were they built in that particular spot? There are fun little mysteries all around us.
Acrylics on Masonite, 10 x 15 cm:
This work is for sale. Contact me at brianvds@gmail.com.
I rather like this sort of cool, cloudy weather. I do find it kind of tricky to paint, mind you, and it tends not to be as popular with viewers as more brightly lit scenes either.
Acrylics on Masonite, 15 x 20 cm:
A typical landscape in South Africa: a flat, grassy plain with a power station, and pylons running off into the distance. As always, I am a bit ambivalent about it: purely in visual terms, I love this sort of grimy, industrial scenery (it's a bit like a giant, outdoor still life setup!), but of course, it also mars the natural landscape, and as at present, most power generation here is via coal, it is not exactly very environmentally friendly.
Acrylics on Masonite, 10 x 15 cm:
Painted landscapes often don't quite reflect the reality, namely that much of the world is flat as a table. You'd never guess, judging from all those mountains you often see in the background in landscape paintings.
When I started painting, I soon learned why: huge, flat, expansive landscapes are quite spectacular when you stand in them, but they can easily look a bit featureless in a painting, particularly a small painting such as this one. And thus, artists usually put something in there for the eye to focus on, as I did here with the silos.
As I noted elsewhere, I am as fond as anyone of romanticized paintings of rural life, but I also like the more industrial-looking reality of modern farming.
