Koornkloofplaas – watercolours of a beautiful farm near Garies
Posted by Stephen Quirke on September 21, 2009 under Art, en plein air, landscape, Namaqualand, painting, watercolor, watercolour | 
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I spent most of last Friday painting the farm Koornkloof (“Wheat ravine” I think) deep in the heart of the Rooiberg mountains East of the town of Garies in the Northern Cape. The dominant peak is a Rooiberg (or is it Roodeberg?), a massive pyramid of red granite that is covered in snow in the winter. Both “rooi” and “roode” mean “red”. Koornkloof is in a narrow valley below beautiful blue and red boiler plate slabs of granite. There is a river flowing through the valley with, I suspect, a large catchment area to the North. So it is a fertile and well watered corner. I remembered large trees from the last time I was there but on this occasion, as I came round the corner my breath was taken away by a stand of massive fruit trees in full blossom. I think they were apricot trees but never before have I seen such big fruit trees. There were about twenty trees or more and each tree must have been 20m high. At first I thought they were great white rocks. Next to this copse was a stand of poplars that were even higher, leafless in their winter way. This is what I had come to paint. I worked on half size Arches 300gm cold press (380x570mm) which may have been a mistake as it took a long time to get the colours down. But it was fun to sit in the warm sun. While I was painting, a vicious looking beetle, black, with white spots on its back was working a grid up and down the embankment towards me. When it got close enough I threw dirt clods at it. It turned on me, then thought better of it and scuttled off into the bush. I think they are called Tiger Beetles. Here is the first watercolour:
The fruit-trees are off to the right.
I then went down to the other side of the farm and did this watercolour:
I was running out of time and getting tired so I tried to do this more quickly. One day I would love to get permission to paint from the farm property. I did not have the reserves to take the risk of asking farmers, who may be tired of tourists bugging them in the flower season. Though I think they are friendly on that farm. While I was there, two of their dogs came to visit, a large white Greyhound and a little Jack Russel and both were very friendly – dogs are a kind of give away.
When I was finished at Koornkloof I went further into the mountains to visit a B&B that had a signpost up. I mentioned to Cecily that I would try to find a place or make contact with the locals to bring some watercolourists out here one day. Well, I met the locals but in an unexpected way. A story for my next post.
butterflyhands said,
This is very nice Stephen. Do you draw first? People there can only be friendly, I am sure!
lesliepaints said,
Now I want to go here. I keep changing my mind. These are both beautiful. Love the farm nestled in at the foot of the Mountain. The color here is wonderful. I see the spring coming on!
swatch said,
Hi Cecily – I am sure you are right. The people I did meet were very special. Yes I sketch out the shapes most of the time before I paint. S
swatch said,
Hey Leslie – this is a great place. I was too late to see it this time but in good years they have vast fields of dark orange daisies.
A number of times I had this vision of just drifting along the road, stopping to paint every now and again. The thought crossed my mind to turn left instead of right as I left Garies – heh heh – Namib Desert calls.
Deva said,
These are so beautiful. I envy you your talent, for sure! I am excited to hear about your meeting with the locals, so I’ll be waiting for your next post!
swatch said,
Hi Deva – thanks hey – yep I will put up a note tomorrow – all going to plan – S
Carol King said,
More beautiful paintings Stephen! And I’m glad you stuck it out. Had I seen that beetle I would have packed up and left! Can’t wait to hear the next story about the locals.
A co-worker is on holiday in the Cape Town area and environs, I can’t wait to see her pictures and see if they can even compare to your beautiful watercolors.
napabelle said,
Wow, Stephen, you get better and better with each painting ! These are very spectacular. I would love to see what the beetle looked like !!
swatch said,
Hi Carol – thanks hey – I will see if I can find a photo of a Tiger Beetle – they look very aggressive.
Your associate is here at a good time, although we are experiencing our first real South Easter – the Summer wind – which can spoil some outings.
I am coming to see what you have been up to soon. S
swatch said,
Hi Isabelle – thanks hey. I have sent a note to Mike Picker my friend the entomologist, whose name turned up in the Google search. I am sure he can help. I could not see the beetle in any of the sites that came up – it had distinct white dots on its back. (I am sure entomologists don’t talk about a beetle’s ‘back’). I will let you know.
Cheers hey
lookingforbeauty said,
Great paintings. I like to see this big shift in composition from one painting to the next. The colours are beautiful.
K
swatch said,
Thanks hey K – it is really nice to have a whole day of painting – a day of painting and travelling on either side is a real bonus
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