Since the 11th march 2007 I have developed a fascination for Nguni Cattle. On that particular day I visited the farm, Rooipoort of our friends Carl and Rentia Malcomess. There I photographed their herd of Nguni cattle with the plan to paint a composition of the herd in the landscape of their farm. I started with a rough sketch here.
Then I composed and painted the final watercolour for them.
Since then I discovered that there was another herd of Ngunis, so with the help of the farmer, Hannes Haasbroek, I acquired a substantial photo library for future Nguni paintings. However as 2008 turned out to be an year of no painting, the idea only returned on our trip to the Baviaanskloof in May. Passing a farm at Mondplaas, near Jeffrey’s Bay, I saw a wonderful small herd of Nguni. This was the spark of inspiration that got me going again.
Several watercolour sketches followed from various sources, and finally the Big Oil painting of the Mondplaas Ngunis! It is a massive 1650 x 870 mm in size and has taken a full 2 weeks to complete.
During the long hours of painting I listened to many inspiring sermons from some of my favourites like: John Piper , Sinclair Ferguson , Wayne Grudem , C.J.Mahaney , Don Carson , Sam Storms , Lex Loizides , Jackie Pullinger and the blog articles and interviews of Adrian Warnock
Through them all, God keeps me focused on Him, and the Holy Spirit enables me to interpret what I see into the paintings we undertake together. I marvel at the joy He must feel in the creation of these amazingly colourful and unique cattle. I am also assured that Our Lord takes pleasure in our everyday work, no matter how mundane it is. As we dedicate all that we do to Him, He will be glorified. I hope that you too have found fulfilment in walking with Jesus. May He bless you abundantly today!!
” For everything comes from Him ; everything exists by His power and is intended for His glory.
To Him be glory evermore. Amen.” -Romans 11v36
Leave a Reply