SWARTBERG MOUNTAINS SKETCHED BY DOUGLAS TREASURE

DOUGLAS TREASURE (1917-1995)
The Swartberg mountains (2,325 m - 7,628 ft)
South Africa (Western Cape)

 In Huis Rivier Near Calitzdorp, Cape, watercolour 

The mountains
The Swartberg mountains (2,325 m - 7,628 ft) (black mountain in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the Great Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt. Much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The painter
Douglas Treasure obtained his formal training at the Port Elisabeth School of Art. A commercial art career included extensive experience as a illustrator, designer, visualiser and finally art director of a major company. During this time his love of watercolour landscape painting flourished, and in 1973 he retired from advertising in order to become a full-time professional painter. Douglas Treasure is the only South African represented in best selling British Author Ron Ransom's new book, Watercolour Impressionists. His works are represented in private collections in England, America, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and Argentina.

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2022 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

CHAPMAN'S PEAK BY DOUGLAS TREASURE

DOUGLAS TREASURE (1917 -1995) 

Chapman's Peak (592 m- 1,909 ft)

South Africa

 In  Boats in Hot bay with Chapman's peak in the mist, watercolour, 1950 

The mountain 
Chapman's Peak (592 m- 1,909ft ) is the name of a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a spectacular road, known as Chapman's Peak Drive, hugs the near-vertical face of the mountain, linking Hout Bay to Noordhoek.  Chapman's Peak is named after John Chapman, the pilot of an English ship becalmed in today's Hout Bay in 1607. The skipper sent his pilot ashore to find provisions, and the name was recorded as Chapman's Chaunce.
Chapman's Peak Drive was hacked out of the face of the mountain between 1915 and 1922, and at the time was regarded as a major feat of engineering.  The road was closed in the 1990s, after a rockfall caused a death and a subsequent lawsuit,  and was reopened  in 2005 as a toll road.

The painter 
Douglas Treasure obtained his formal training at the Port Elisabeth School of Art. A commercial art career included extensive experience as a illustrator, designer, visualiser and finally art director of a major company. During this time his love of watercolour landscape painting flourished, and in 1973 he retired from advertising in order to become a full-time professional painter. Douglas Treasure is the only South African represented in best selling British Author Ron Ransom's new book, Watercolour Impressionists. His works are represented in private collections in England, America, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and Argentina.