My friend Eleanor and I were off to Reitz to have a few days of art tuition with my first art teacher Denis Hilton Lees. Denis first taught me down on the West Coast some years ago and after a stint of five years in Taiwan teaching English, settled here in this farming town in the Free State of South Africa.
Along the road I tried to tell Eleanor about Denis and his family but in the end it was better to wait for her to find out herself. We arrived at around twelve to Denis striding to open the gate with a wide grin on his face. He ushered us through clucking Koek Koek hens to the kitchen where I introduced Eleanor to Laura and young Jessica and Benjamin amidst a few hens drawn in by the excitement!
Koek Koeks were bred in 1960 at the Potschefstroom Agricultural College by Chris Marais as dual purpose birds for laying and meat. They are easy to sex having distinctive marks.
The breed is in great demand and Laura breeds them, a clutch of eggs beneath the hen in the bathroom were due to hatch at any moment.
With wine and coffee for Eleanor, we repaired to the studio, an old double garage open to the elements with the valley and the town far below. A chicken run with rabbits hopping around was next door with beehives in the rear. Denis’s paintings and paraphernalia adorns the walls, music plays and we were into art talk immediately.
I had made my famous chicken liver terrine and brought bread and cheese and after a while we moved outside in the good weather to have a light meal next to the garden nursery that Laura has developed.
After lunch it was straight to work. Eleanor had brought a photograph copy of Table Mountain as seen from Blouberg Strand across Table Bay that she was keen to paint on a fairly large canvas. In next to no time Denis had persuaded her against copying it, to give it her own twist and Eleanor’s journey had begun.
I am busy trying to put onto canvas what it is like to be a writer and had done a canvas with him last time depicting the flight of ideas. Now I wished to express the loneliness of the writer. I described my idea and Denis just muttered “Crazy lady!”
Later we went off to Absolute B & B with a warm welcome from Johan and Marinda whom I knew, returning later for more art and the evening meal. I had cooked Babotie, a Cape Malay dish of mincemeat and mild curry and other spices with rice.
The Malay people were brought to the Cape as slaves to work on the new farms of the Dutch required to grow food for their ships plying to and fro from the Dutch East Indies. These people brought with them the spices of the east and their cuisine.
A bredie is a casserole of lamb pieces braised with onion and garlic and spices such as cinnamon and bay leaves layered with typically tomatoes or green beans but I chose to do it with butternut squash.
The following morning we were greeted by the news of little Koek Koeks having hatched except for one that was battling valiantly to peck its way out despite being the wrong way round. The hen had neglected to turn the egg. Laura helped by cracking the shell but left the sac as if she tore that, the chick would die. The little thing battled on and was finally out, very weak but with careful nursing recovered. Jessica has a name for each of the hens and the rooster.
Back to work with Benjamin’s drums beating out a rhythm accompanying us. The paintings progressed until a great noise on the roof distracted us. The rabbits had climbed up and were running up and down! Then Denis put on some music, electing a piano symphony and the whole flock of Koek Koeks rushed in to stand listening to the music!
This reminded me of a time when I was in Zimbabwe at the Victoria Falls. There was a new shopping centre near the falls and a restaurant with a stage where a band was playing live music. A small breeding herd of elephant were drawn to the music and stood feeding whilst they listened!
Driving down to the famous bridge the traffic came to a standstill while an enormous bull elephant made his way down the road ignoring the pesky motors and the bustle of cross border people until he found his path leading off the tar down to the forest! Lord of all he surveyed!
Our time flew by with the paintings emerging and Denis being Denis, a marvelous natural teacher and raconteur, until Eleanor asked him to help her with a painting she had in mind that featured a jar. So we had a lesson of how to draw an accurate elipse! Now I had only ever passed South African Standard Eight with arithmetic, never mind maths! Eleanor remarked that Denis taught us in half an hour what would have taken a week in University – she should know as she is a career headmistress! Wonder upon wonders this blonde head managed to understand the concept at least!
Eleanor has retired and is savouring her new found freedom by embarking on new interests and volunteering for new projects. She is at present revamping the library of a nearby school and has discovered a treasure of old books some of which have early South African history. I can’t wait to accompany her and get my nose into them!
Finally the day came before we were due to depart and photos were duly taken – see below with all Denis’s details for those in SA who would be interested.
Denis Hilton Lees www.denishiltonlees.com email artontap@gmail.com
Molly's Musings On Life And Travel 