Visit to the Lourensford Wine Estate!
A proud hand sculpted African Cheetah greets you here!
The first place that I come to at the start of the spring season to get something very special.
You will see that something special in the last two photos of this post!
This is the popular, historic and famous Lourensford wine farm in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
Export wines come from here, but it is also a place where a lovely area of relaxation and adventure was created for public visitors. A tour of the wine cellars should not be missed.
But today I will show you some local art on the farm.
A few weeks ago the winter left the vineyards empty, but just look at the new Spring season growth already!
A wire artwork greets one at the entrance and you can see that the African sun has woken up!
A better look here with the sun behind me.
At the left of the statue is a lovely fountain where families have picnics and the little ones can play in the fountains!
A large clay mask on display here below!
There are two restaurants in the estate and also a market where a multitude of food stalls offer foods from across the world!
We call the silver rings "washers" that one uses to fasten things with bolts and nuts, but this artist made a face with them!
Beads strung with wire to form the face below.
The same beads and wire that were used to form the figure of the woman in photos 3 and 4.
Birdlife is also prolific on the farm and no, this is not a plastic bird, but rather a very alive Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa)
If you don't believe me, here is the same Malachite up in a tree. Beautiful metallic colors.
Indeed a most beautiful place to visit and we can recommend it to any prospective visitors.
Here is more information and the Lourensford link;
"LOURENSFORD WINE ESTATE"
"Welcome to Lourensford Estate. As one of the world’s most beautiful wine estates we offer a visual feast across 4 000 hectares of forest, fynbos, fruit orchards and vineyards, which rise up the slopes of the Helderberg Mountains, caressed by breezes off the Atlantic Ocean".
"Established by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1709, Lourensford has a proud history as a world class fruit farm and the wealth of glorious Proteas point to our rich floral heritage. Fortunately, the winemaking tradition was revived when well known Cape business man, Dr Christo Wiese purchased the Estate in 1998".
Source link: https://lourensford.co.za/
As we live not too far away this farm and a few others are within reach and it is always a pleasure to visit here.
Clay pigeon shooting, zip slides, trail hikes and many other activities are offered here and there's also an art gallery and some natural wellness shops.
A place where one just cannot get bored and for photographers it is a paradise!
Note: All photos are my own, taken today, unedited and cropped for uploading.
Camera used: Canon Powershot SX60HS
We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting the blog of @papilloncharity
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I used to love going to the wineries for picnics as a kid - my parents didn't even drink.
The other night I was telling a story to my daughter about while at a winery, I climbed up a large fallen gum tree trunk and sat down for a while - only to rise with a lot of ants in my pants :D
Hahaha, oh man, that must have been an "antique" experience.
Were they of the red kind that bite?
I can see that you will never forget that experience and I bet that smallsteps was giggling!
So beautiful Place! Here in Tuscany
there are a lot of vineyards (and good wines 😃), but the Autumnal season Is Just started . 💓
Thank you kindly Lady @sylviabeneforti.
I saw some of your vineyards on Google and they are indeed beautiful.
Yes, winter will be with you guys one of these days!
Blessings and take care!
This is so beautiful! What a place! I like all the art, it's very crafty especially the face made with the washers. I use them at work all the time but never pictured them displayed in an art piece. Thanks for sharing this wonder. xox :)
Thank you kindly!
Yes I agree as it is great to see what ordinary things like washers can be turned into art.
The local people are very inventive and I have previously posted lovely art pieces made from old scrap motor car parts.
Glad that you liked it and blessings to you!
The art is wonderful and the face made with washers is unique. My favorite is the proud cheetah.
The Malachite Sunbird is a beautiful color and has a lovely long tail feather and beak.
Thanks for the tour Sir Stephen.
Thank you lady Jo and hope that you are well.
Yes, it is indeed a great experience to visit that farm and thus far it is one of the best ones that we found.
But there are many others and we hope to get them all in time lol.
There are two of those cheetahs facing each other over a distance in a beautifully cultured entrance garden that I will post another time.
Blessings and thank you for the visit!
Most welcome @papilloncharity. I am well. I hope you and Marion are keeping well and I see you are by the the great photos you are taking. 🙂
We are managing Lady Jo and glad that you are also well.
Now in stage 1 of a very long lockdown period and more freedom to go around with my camera lol.
The thought is to get around while the going is good.
Take care my friend!
The washer face sculpture must have taken the person quite some time to make all those washers and all those little welds that you can barely see. they did a great job.
Totally agreed and that artist is certainly a neat worker.
I included the bead face that he made this morning in the post, as I saw that I missed it.
All of the faces were done by the same artist that did the bead and wire figure of the woman in the post.
Cheers and thanks!
He is certainly very meticulous with his work. I wonder which one he found most difficult the beads or the washers? I would still thing the washers as they seem to be more difficult to hide the welds.
!ENGAGE 20
I just might meet him, as I have met other artists that display their work there. Would be interesting to go to his workshop to see him in action. I think that you are right about the washers.
Last year I posted about guys that built a life size cheetah with colored beads and wire, so I know how they do the beads and wires.
Thank you for the token!
ENGAGEtokens.Thank you kindly!
The natural surroundings itself is lovely already, I love how they have added their own personal touch with all the artwork.
Thank you for the visit!
Yes, agreed nature is beautiful and they have developed a very welcome facility to accommodate visiting families and tourists. They also have one of the biggest wine processing facilities in the southern hemisphere and their wines are popular worldwide.
All of the above is just a by the way for me, as I am more interested in nature and the history of the farm.
Great also that they display the labor of local artists!
The woman sculpture looks beautiful indeed!
Yes, thanks and that guy has an excellent eye for a female figure.
All done with beads and wire.
Talent and work is always a good combination. The beads and the wire was a creative choice and it did work very well
I sat and watched them building a life size lion with wire and different colored beads, that matches the lion's natural colors and it was such a great experience to see four guys working together on the body.
Another two guys sat separately building the lion's head and mane.
6 wire and bead artists working in tandem, what a sight!
So beautiful! You were fortunate to have such a direct view!
Indeed and thank you milady!
Nice statues, great moutain, original masks and a small once of nature with the bird.
Thank you kindly for the visit and I am glad that you liked the post my friend!