Danie Malherbe has no airs about him, although he paints like a prince. “I’m the manager of the Spar here in Port Owen,” he says when he explains that he has to make time to paint.

Paints during stolen moments
His paintings of landscapes and ruins that have people waxing lyrical happen during the stolen moments when he is not at the Spar, or busy cleaning house or tending his garden. Danie explains that he paints about ten to twelve paintings in the space of a year, and that he has been doing so for twenty years. Some of his paintings are in Australia. “They spoke to the man who bought them,”  he says quietly.

Danie’s only got two of his artworks in his fishing cottage in Port Owen. He’s just completed a painting of a wind pump that is haunting. He’s painted it on part of an old Oregon pine garage door. He calls the materials “rof en onbeskof” but they add to the charm of the painting, and yes, there is a buyer for it.

The painting of the wind pump is more or less Danie’s preferred size, which is 60 cm x 60 cm. He says he prefers painting on a large scale. He uses only oil paint and real turpentine, and says about the latter’s smell that he loves it.

Authentic art
Danie’s secret is probably that his art is from the heart. He’s taken only a handful of art classes as he was afraid of being influenced too much by other artists. And here is the result. Authentic artworks that evoke the soul of our countryside.

And here’s another surprise. Danie is not originally from the West Coast but “from Gautengeleng.”

But he’s lived here for 22 years now, and the region has become part and parcel of his being. “Come and visit,” he says. “I’ll make you coffee and scones.”

Ten or more paintings of Danie’s can be found in a local coffeeshop-cum-art gallery. Danie searches for the name of the place, and can’t remember it. He’s clearly not into marketing himself. He’s just Danie. Danie Malherbe. In case you want to go to that gallery in Port Owen and ask for his artworks.