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Wednesday 31 August 2016

A Bit of Fun with Pierneef: Holstein Heaven

I find Pierneef's work somber, imposing and even ominous, so the title of this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Pierneef doesn't seem like a fun kind of guy.

Composition in Blue, Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef

I chose one of his paintings, Composition in Blue, from 1928, and focused in on the lower right corner, which gave me a simple little motif to work with that still represented his approach to landscape.

Composition in Blue, Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef (detail)

My first inclination was to duplicate the colours that he had chosen, and I got as far as selecting appropriate hand-dyed cottons.


hand-dyed cottons that match colours in painting

But that seemed a bit slavish. Where was the originality in that? I must admit I wasn't all that taken with the work of Pierneef, so I took some liberties and produced something in black-and-white patterned fabrics instead:


Holstein Heaven, 16 x 16

I happened to have some cotton printed with Holstein cattle so I cut them out and added them for a whimsical twist. A nod to the rolling pastoral landscape, complete with sheep and cattle, that I recently enjoyed in Shropshire with Hilary and other members of 12 by the dozen.

8 comments:

  1. Love it Heather! It calls to mind Pierneef, but in a very original way.

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  2. Very clever Heather. Love what you have done. While at Hilarys I pulled out a book she had on Pierneef and one thing I had missed were his linocuts. This is great as my thoughts immediately went back to them.

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  3. This really made me smile and I thought of all those black and white fabrics at Festival. But for all the humour it has all the hallmarks of a Pierneef painting. Very clever interpretation Heather. Love it. Hilary

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  4. So fun Heather! I recognize some of those black and whites from the great Panda Project!

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  5. Using black and white fabrics is a challenge on its own and I just love this piece especially with the whimsical cattle !

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  6. It reminds me of his lino prints, and I love the cows!

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  7. I really like your black and white interpretation which makes it different and very interesting. I think we are all looking closer at the work of the various artists which is making this challenge even more interesting and challenging, and making us look more closly as to how we should sometimes think outside the box. Well done on using an innovative approach.

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