LP 005 Irises in a Zulu Beer Pot (Ukhamba)

Irises in a Zulu Beer Pot (Ukhamba) is an original acrylic painting from my Limited Palette Series—a growing collection of small, individually numbered artworks created using black, white and just a handful of carefully chosen colours.

This painting began as a study of irises, but the warm clay colour of the traditional Zulu beer pot emerged unexpectedly while mixing paint. Rather than following my original plan, the composition evolved around this accidental discovery. Working within a deliberately restricted palette also produced the soft blue of the flowers—a colour I may never have chosen had every paint on my shelf been available.

The ukhamba, a traditional Zulu beer pot, has long been associated with hospitality, ceremony and ancestral connection, adding an unexpected layer of South African cultural heritage to an otherwise simple still life.

Like every work in the Limited Palette Series, this painting forms part of an ongoing visual diary—small observations, moments of curiosity and quiet discoveries that emerge through the process of painting.

Original acrylic on hardboard
Professionally framed in solid kiaat
Individually numbered as part of the Limited Palette Series
Ready to hang