Chocolachillie

In a fit of lunacy, or maybe nesting, which is actually one and the same thing, ask any husband, I painted one wall of my office at work a couple of years back. Of course I didn’t want to spend money on paint and so I took the only paint I had – which is something we used to paint display boards with. The minute I started painting, however, I fell in love with the colour. And I remained firmly in love with it ever since. It is so nice, I want to eat it.

The colour is a strange bluish gray – not my thing at all ordinarily due to the fact that I prefer warm colours. Yet I perceive it as a warm colour. And teamed with chocolate brown, it looks divine.

My work here – which is slowly coming to an end – has in part been to look after very old building plans. Old by South African standards, that is. The oldest one I’m aware of is of a school built during 1865. And my favourite, which is of a building in our city, was done during the Anglo-Boer war which started in 1899. This is an artwork in itself. Beautifully drawn on linen – almost the same colour as the paint I mentioned – and meticulously watercoloured at the back to let the colour through as you hold the drawing up against the light.

I leave you with a few photographs that I’ve taken of details of the 1899 drawing. Enjoy!

P.S. I guess I’m a little sad.