"Suikerbossie wil jou he"

The words of the old folk song from childhood keep returning. In English, it means, "Sugarbush, I want you." Sugarbush is a name for the extraordinary flower unique to South Africa, the protea. I was particularly fascinated by the eponymously named pincushion variety, one of hundreds of varieties which I observed and documented on my walks in the mountains behind my village. In those days it was unremarkable for an eight or nine year old girl to wander for hours by herself over koppies and kloofs, where no other soul would be found. Luckily I never encountered any leopards, rumored to roam those hills, although many snakes crossed my path, fat lazy adders and scary cobras, and spiders as big as your hand (or so it seemed to me).

Now, some fifty years later, I go back to the imagery of proteas to create a painting in reds, pinks, mauves, purples and greens, as well as the ever present blues of sea and sky.