Die Eiland - Part Two (Quiet Giants)

These giants stood guard along the winding road leading up to the mountain pass that holds passage to Tzaneen. They've always fascinated me ever since I saw them scattered between the thorn trees during a previous trip to the Waterberge. All the pictures were taken taken through the car window on our way back.

Die Eiland - Part One

WOW! Almost a year already. Obviously at this point my continuing efforts move from persistent to steadfast (like a large and sturdy vessel on the editorial ocean). All previous misgivings and subdued feelings of indifference notwithstanding, there are some items that have been accumulating and will grace these pages pretty soon, so there.

Moving swiftly along then - I recently acquired the used equipment of distinguished professional photographer Warren Van Rensburg (a Canon 20D, to be exact). A camera carrying such a legacy and refined tradition surely could only inspire one to produce the most sparkling images for an already starved and anticipatory audience (insert throat clearing).

First trial run was on a trip out to "Die eiland" - a sprawling community of caravanners and avid cultural enthusiasts affiliated with the ATKV. A bustling little village of temporary cluster living, waterworks and lawn sports, north of Tzaneen (and just screaming for a documentary). It was my fathers 70th birthday and family and friend were convening at Die Eiland to celebrate the man.

In part one then, some pictorial sketches of day to day activities of this community.

Look Ma! I drawed some rocks!

Mountain Sanctuary
2009-03-06 - 2009-03-10

So then - 4 days to be with myself and get some quiet in the mountains.

I had been to Mountain Sanctuary before, and had a good idea of the
environment - good clean air , lots of elbow space and the clearest coolest river pools of soft mountain water.

What I completely forgot about was the surreal rock formations dappling the landscape.



The Twins (My last, and best sketch of the trip before I had to pack it in and head back to Joburg city)


It became my daily meditation then, going out on foot into the veld, settling on one or two formations for the day (at times it became hard to choose) and spending the rest of the day in the cool therapeutic company of the river.

Just the sound of that water tumbling over rock is enough to send you out...





This is the first time I've consiously gone out to do some field scetches, and to be honest, at first it felt really pretentious, sitting in the field with your precious sketch pad, while some German tourist and his family hikes by.




But I learnt a lot about landscape drawing, textures, and general drawing discipline.I could see myself improving as the days went by. Plus - I enjoyed it - a lot! So much so that I think us boys need to gather a posse at regular intervals, and head out to a designated spot for a few days of quiet and field drawing.




Honestly one of the most rejuvenating and inspiring few days I've spent in a long time, in of the most beautiful settings this diverse country of ours has to offer.


Soundtrack :
Ghost of Tom joad - Bruce Springsteen
Best of - JJ Cale
For Emma , forever ago - Bon Iver

Plasticine landscapes

Here's something I did loooooong ago ( 2 or more years ago) , when I still had time take some of my kids old plasticine clay, squash them into little 2cm cubes, and flatten them onto a scanner for high res capture... repeatedly... for a whole day... ahh the joys of working for one's self... good times...

Died young, Stayed pretty : Screen printing videos

Found this trailer on Rigard Kapp's screen printing blog , Jiant Hand Prints. Really can't wait to get hold of it !



Also on his blog , this hilarious video showing the whole screen printing process from start to finish... love the running commentary....

HelgaPhone

I've been having some fun with this photographic iPhone app, CameraBag which enables you to apply a range of filters to any image, including a classic Helga lens feel. Who says the iPhone's camera is worthless?!

Roots

A long long time ago in a city much like Johannesburg, I noticed a strange outline of something in a sidestreet on my way to work. After ignoring the call to come closer, to bear witness for a week, I finally took the turn and found the old, exposed heart of an uprooted tree, lying by the side of the road. That initial encounter led to the documentation of several more of these specimens, lying like old cadavers at the scene of a crime, begging for an autopsy. I can now say that after a year of toiling , shooting, re-shooting, deep-etching, and re-reshooting, and fretting about details up to what has ventured into obsession, I'm finally happy with the end result. Thanks to everybody who lent me their cameras,time and invaluable advice and support throughout this endeavour. Of course, the final step is yet to be taken - filing my report; printing, binding the documents for the record...