When Colour Returns | Original Mixed Media Coastal Landscape, Kleinmond

When Colour Returns

In winter, rainwater from the Kogelberg mountains makes its way to the sea through seams in the rock plates of Kleinmond’s coastal avenues. This painting is of a particular small spruitjie along Beach Road — only really visible if you’re walking.

I first noticed it while building the Tiny House, one road back. It was the middle of winter — cold, wet, and relentless. The kind of weather that flattens everything into shades of grey. And then, along this sheltered dip in the land, there it was — the first colour.

Nasturtiums.

They arrive early here, especially in places that are protected — tucked out of the wind, close to water, held a little more gently than the open ground around them.

It was a small glimmer that has stayed with me. A reminder that things can be shifting in the right direction long before we fully feel it.

This small work holds that stretch of coastline — the rocks, the little pool visible from the road, and the low, bright scatter of orange against the green. But more than that, it holds the feeling of coming through something. Of noticing what grows when it’s sheltered, and what it means to be close to home.

The choice of added threadwork is a quiet nod to domesticity — to what is held together, and to what returns. It follows the land lightly, echoing the highlights of vegetation as water finds its path through rock.

Details

• Medium: Acrylic and thread on canvas

• Frame: Contemporary natural wood

• Size: 37 x 30 x 4,5cm (framed)

• Location: Beach Road, Kleinmond

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