It is believed that when in the city of Cape Town, you absolutely cannot get lost. That is, if you know the Mountain.
No matter where you go you can see some part of the Table Mountain chain, whether it's the 12 Apostles on the Atlantic Ocean side, the back of the mountain from the Southern Suburbs, or the well know 'front' of the flat topped edifice from the north. So, if you find yourself in a strange part of the town, just look at the mountain and you'll know how to get home!
When looking at the front of the mountain, on the left hand side is the part known as Devil's Peak. This is the part of the mountain that I see every day when I go into my garden. But to get an unobstructed view, the best place to go is Oude Molen where our group has been painting for the past number of weeks.
I did just that and although it was blazing hot that day, managed to do a pretty fair rendition of the slopes of the Peak.
And guess what Rob Ijbema - I'm starting to enjoy plein air stuff!
From Wikepedia -
Devil's Peak was originally known as Windberg, and supposedly gets its current name from the folk-tale about a Dutch man called Jan van Hunks, a prodigious pipe smoker who lived at the foot of the mountain circa 1700. He was forced by his wife to leave the house whenever he smoked his pipe. One day, while smoking on the slopes of the peak, he met a mysterious stranger who also smoked. They each bragged of how much they smoked and so they fell into a pipe-smoking contest. The stranger turned out to be the Devil and Van Hunks eventually won the contest, but not before the smoke that they had made had covered the mountain, forming the table cloth cloud.
35 comments:
Oh so beautiful, Liz! I am amazed to see art of this quality with something that many fail to see the beauty in - a rocky surface. I just think this is gorgeous and if we but open our eyes...
Really great job on the values in this mountain.
You have done a splendid job here Liz! The perspective is very good and the rocky surface is shown brilliantly! One more testimonial for plein air painting :)
Your Devil's Peak is stunning, and so recognisable - thanks for the reminder of the story of van Hunks that I heard often from my gran and mom. When I first came to Joburg, I'd look out of my office window with tears running down my cheeks, because there was NO mountain, NO direction, NO way of knowing where I was! Thanks for a very emotive post Liz!
A very powerful rendition of the mountain, Liz! Strangely enough: isn't a section of it much nicer than all those full-on views!
A very powerful painting, beautifully done! I think it's making us all want to be there painting with you, despite your mention of the blazing heat.
Looks like a good landmark to live near. Like the quality of the rock area.
Liz, This has to be my favorite of yours! The shadows, the trees at the base...so gorgeous!
Beautifully painted. Love seeing scenes of Cape Town.
Jean
You have a beautiful view Liz! It's a wonderful painting!!
This is lovely, Liz. I like the freshness of your plein air work. Your affinity for the landscape really comes through.
Very beautiful piece Liz, you are making me want to plein air paint again.
The folds in the rocky peak is just perfect. The foliage is great too. I liked the brush strokes a lot.
Great post.... Love the mountain view!!
Hope there was some shade to sit under.
I love getting outside to paint... Of course, Liz, you can paint something wonderful anywhere you are!!
beautiful mountain Liz! I get a real sense of it's size here in your painting
Beautiful painting! I think I need to move to a town with a mountain, as navigationally challenged as I am. Yep. That's what I should do.
Thank you dear Sherry. TM is an amazing mountain and you never get tired of her different moods, so it really is an artist's dream.
Thank you so much Pam!
Hi Ramesh, thank you. I guess plein air does kind of work its way into your repertoire!
Gosh Cathy, what a wonderful comment. And the few times I go to Joburg, I have no idea where I am so I can empathise with those early days!
Hi Marie - I guess we've become a bit jaded with the 'traditional' view of TM and just another perspective or another part makes you realise just how much of this old berg there is to paint!
Thank you Charlene and I guess you also know all about mountains where you are - just yours have a little bit of snow on them!
Hi there Tony and thank you. They (the rest of the country) call Capetonians 'mountain goats" (or maybe it's old goats!) because we are so attached to our mountain. And I love the fact that I can see it every day!
Wow Saundra, thank you so much!
Hello Jean and thank you. I always think of you when I post something related to SA and I'm glad it reminds you of old times.
Thank you Manon - yes I do have a great view but unfortunately not unobstructed - have to go elsewhere to see the whole picture!
Thank you so much Liz - and yes, I guess we can't really live without our mountain.
Hope you do get out there Rhonda, when the weather warms up?
Thank you Prabal - the looseness is where I am trying to go. Slowly will get there!
Ah Marian, the queen of plein air painting, thank you so much!
It is big Judy, and I'm so glad that came through. By the way, on those slopes, there are a number of big buck living there which we can see sometimes when driving into the city! An added bonus.
Gosh Deb, as I said without the mountain I am lost - it is our Garmin GPS! Thank you so much for the visit.
What a great view from your garden! I just the back of my neighbor's house! Nice painting.
Magnificent sense of size and and weight in this painting, Liz!
Great story about the contest with the Devi!
Liz, love the story! What really caught my eye is that little spot of red near the top on the shadow side of the mountain. It adds just the right touch along with the cool greens. Beautiful!
Lucky you, what a view! This is perfect Liz, very impressionistic and the values seem just right.
Very interesting! My husband's grandfather was from Cape Town and mentioned Table Mountain many times!
Really nice work!
Be careful plein air is very addictive! But then again you gain soo much more then plein studio work.
Great one this!
Lovely rendition Liz. I am so glad you are enjoying painting out! I knew you would, eventually! Just remember though, the best paintings are done in the worst weather!
This is super Liz. Thanks for the info too, very interesting story.
Hey, Liz, you might like plein-air painting, but plein-air painting loves you! What a gorgeous piece this is - the contrast between the soft grasses and the hard mountain, the composition, the colors and textures and temperatures - wow. Wow.
Good work, gal!
xo
Carrie
I like that story of the smoking contest, and I'd say your artist's sensibility found the mark on that painting. I can feel the presence of this peak.
Good one.
i'm glad to hear you are enjoying being outside liz,eventhough you've still got a mountain to climb,hehe
and that is what this painting looks like,you managed to give it a grand scale,its got great volume and looks very natural!
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