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.

Storm Clouds

One of the things that captured my attention in Pierneef's paintings was his use of clouds - they really seem to dominate the landscape.  And of course, so do his trees.   So the painting that I chose to use as an influence is A Farmhouse, Naboomspruit.

Below is a variation using my cottage but maintaining the cloudy skies that were so dominant in his other paintings.  It's the middle of summer here and so I tried ice dyeing with very poor effect.  This piece was sitting at the bottom of the tray to pick up stray dye and was the best of the lot.

Through the windshield on the way to the cottage.