In the months before we left for Uruguay, Johann found my work and asked me to paint this portrait of him at a juncture in his life. A warm and gregarious person with an existing collection of commissioned work, Johann already had a vision of the feeling he wanted, and we agreed that Edward Hopper had already done it best. When we met on a mid-week afternoon to discuss the painting at his beautifully renovated cabin in Betty’s Bay, the light from the window and the still-life on the windowsill just seemed too perfect so I asked him to sit on the couch and recreate what we had just discussed. A few quick photos with my dinky phone camera and we were both convinced that this was everything we’d talked about.

The next few weeks were a farewell to my studio in South Africa and I painted this canvas with a bittersweetness that matched the painting. I packed and painted, repaired the house and scrambled for documents. I mourned an old life and looked forward to leaving it. The oil paint was still wet when we boarded the plane and I was already settling into a new life when my assistant brought the painting to the home it belongs in.