Orchids
The intrigue of painting Eulophia cucullata
There is something quite exhilarating about finding an indigenous orchid growing wildly where Nature has chosen to sow its seeds. The discovery itself has such potential to inspire great images, to conjure up visualisations that can ignite an urgency to set to work. The first time I encountered Eulophia cucullata was in a lush grassland…
Read MoreFor the love of the mountain
The scene 2020. The year of flux and disorder. Of isolation. The year the world was forced to recede with the ebb of a global pandemic. 2020. Don’t type it; pick up your pen and feel the motion of these numerals, feel how the line itself becomes fluent as it swells and breaks and swells…
Read MoreThe precarious existence of the Albertina Sisulu Orchid
Fate, chance, purpose, a predetermined divine plan…how often do we experience seemingly acausal happenings that form part of a picture much bigger than what we can imagine at the moment of its occurrence. This may be what Jung would have described as a synchronicity, or “meaningful coincidence” – a seemingly chance incident that essentially holds…
Read MoreDisa zuluensis – A Rare Find
Today I am admiring my precious collection of dried orchid pickings – a bunch of flower stems that have been carefully cut from the main plants, taking the utmost care not to disturb the plant or any future growth, leaving a mark no bigger than that of a small Oribi antelope having an early morning…
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