Beaufighters

Acrylic on stretched Italian Cotton. 80 X 60cm
A 75th commemmoration of loss, of birth, and a present day message of hope for all of us amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

21 year old Sylvia was attached to WAAF as a radar tuner/operator in the final stages of the war in the UK, and on one occasion she located and guided home a Spitfire pilot, who, returning from a mission, was damaged in combat and had no vision due to oil spilling onto his windscreen. Following Sylvia's directions via radio, he managed to land safely and took the opportunity to visit Sylvia in the ops room to personally thank her for saving his life. Sylvia's husband Michael was a South African born RAF pilot who, as a teenager, joined the RAF in the late '30's, and was one of the few non-commissioned pilots (SM 1st class) towards the end of the war. Attached to 144 squadron of Coastal Command, he flew Bristol Beaufighters during operations off the coast of Norway, with his best friend Jack Roddis, who was his navigator. On the 11th of January 1945, a day after Sylvia and Michael's 3rd wedding anniversary, his plane was lost in action over the sea, he was only 23. 6 days prior to this, he had received a letter from Sylvia informing him that she was pregnant with me! Sylvia emigrated to South Africa with me in 1946 on the Stirling Castle, later remarried and rebuilt her life with a new family. She passed away at the age of 73. Sylvia and Michael, Beaufighters, and yes, in the words of Vera Lynn, we will meet again.

Zu's and News

A quirky narrative of one of South Africa's leading newsmakers for all the wrong reasons, often caught in the cookie jar.
Acrylic on Italian Cotton 70 x 100 cm

Dock of the Bay

A view of Hout Bay Harbour from Constantiaberg, with all sorts of fynbos including leucadendrons and crassula, lichen, a dassie and blackbird, as well as my hidden water lily in the sea. I wish Otis Redding could see this. Acrylic on cotton 90 x 120 cm

Namibian Sunrise

Acrylic on Italian Cotton 40 x 70 cm

K(no)wn Name Brands

Darryl Fine and I joined the Cape Times in 1972, ostensibly to create free advertising art for the Newspaper's advertisers. From the outset we enjoyed friendly rivalry between us until we were producing full blown advertising campaigns for the larger retailers who at that stage still had no advertising agency doing their creative work. This soon led to an avalanche of work, with both of us working till the early hours of the morning. We soon honed our skills and eventually Darryl left to start his own business.
Then came a bombshell campaign from Darryl. Checkers had asked him to create a counter campaign in 1974, in response to the launch of a nameless house brand by another well known supermarket chain. The name of my painting was the headline for the full page Checkers advert he created, and only appeared once as it was regarded as ‘effronté’ or knocking copy as we used to say in adspeak. Brilliant in it’s concept, simplicity and cheekiness, it was a statement by a young whippersnapper who made the retail titans sit up and take note, and ultimately earned for him a lucrative advertising client. This painting of mine is a tribute to a controversial, colourful and creative soul who gave me the courage to open my own business. Darryl sadly passed away last year, but I’m sure he would have approved.

Acrylic on board  29.7 cm x 42 cm

Nguni Boys should be seen, and Herd

Inspired by an image supplied by a collector in Majorca, I had to gain permission from the picture's author, but received no response, so to avoid copyright issues I had to recreate a completely different version from scratch, adding an extra narrative and other elements from my own references as well.
So what do herd boys talk about? Here’s my take...
“Hey Blondie, heard the one about the herd boys?” or the head herder at the front saying... “Hey guys, stop bickering!”

Acrylic on Italian Cotton        50 x 70cm.
SOLD

Bottle Top

After Michael English, whose art inspired me in the 1970's.
Acrylic on board 25 x 25cm

Camouflage 2

Acrylic on Board 25 x 25cm
SOLD

Royal Departure 1947

Thursday 24th April 1947. The Royal Family departing from Cape Town on the HMS Vanguard at the end of a successful tour of South Africa, the British Protectorates and Southern Rhodesia.

Acrylic on Cotton 90 x 120 cm

Camouflage

Acrylic on Canvas
20 x 20cm
SOLD