The devil is in the detail.
‘Ma que bella donna!’, Felix shouts from inside the whitewashed house.
Outside, at the edge of the pool, under a low gazebo draped with luscious bell-shaped dark purple flowers, lays Amanda on a stark white daybed wearing a body-hugging floral dress, large Jacky O sunglasses and an extravagant wide brimmed floppy hat that protects her translucent skin from the harmful rays.
Amanda ushers a deep sigh.
‘Hello darling’, she faintly replies and waves like a queen in his direction.
‘O, so you’re still not feeling good?’, Felix asks and takes place at her feet like a loyal Roman servant.
‘You should say feel well, darling and not feel good. I can hear that the English classes that I’ve been financing have not really paid off.’ Amanda sighs again in despair.
‘Mama mia’, he replies and looks up at the deep purple flowers that dangle above Amanda’s hat.
‘Well, I’m glad that you are taking notice of my discontentment’, she ushers, blissfully ignorant that Felix is mesmerized by the luscious bloom.
‘I desperately need to finish that final piece for the gallery in two weeks’ time, otherwise my solo show will miss its masterpiece. And it desperately needs that centerpiece for the big wall when you enter the space’, she continues while Felix starts massaging her skinny feet.
She sighs again.
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Amanda Farling is a well-known South African artist that specialises in botanical drawings and paintings. Her work was highly sought after by collectors worldwide because of the hyper realistic quality of the minute details of the plants, fruits and flowers that she managed to faithfully reproduce. Brushes with only a few hairs ensured that her work was as close to reality as possible. But the painstaking work had now taken its toll on her eyesight. After 30 years of painting tiny details on her canvasses, her eyes were not able to take the stress anymore. There was a time when museums and galleries worldwide would battle to get their hands on one of her works but the last few shows in Cape Town were all a painful disappointment. Also having separated from her rich Italian husband 2 years ago and then being caught up in an expensive court battle in Rome, Amanda realised that the last of her money was dwindling away at an alarming rate.
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Amanda lives in a whitewashed Grecian villa in the green and leafy suburb of Constantia, about 20 kilometres from Cape Town city centre. The house was built by an award-winning architect, and the 8.5 acres of gardenwas designed by one of the head gardeners of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. The garden lies elegantly on the eastern slopes of the majestic Table Mountain. The cool breeze from the cold Atlantic Ocean over the neighboring lush vineyards and the protection from the fierce winds gave her the opportunity to choose all her favorite Mediterranean plants; Cotton Lavender, False Dittany, Silverbush, Phlomis and Sea Holly. Her extravagant field of Muhlenbergias was inspired by her impressive collection of pink boas and ostrich feathers.
The potted collection of ancient Citrus Fortunella Japonica and her prized Citrus Caviar trees take pride of place next to the pool. An army of 5 gardeners always receive specific instructions to take particular care of her Solanaceae plants; black tomatoes, purple potatoes and white eggplants. They all need particular attention as they tend to grow much better in more northern climates.
A few summers ago, Petra, the matron of her gardening army, had discovered a new member amongst her Solanaceaes. It had pretty oval, pointed leaves that were pale green and strongly ribbed. Purple flowers appeared before the berries and then turned pitch black like round little succulent cherries. It had established itself comfortably amongst her crop of white eggplants. Amanda was utterly intrigued by the plant. So, under strict military instructions of Amanda, the entire gardening team had carefully moved it to the pool area and draped it around the pergola to give shade in the burning African sun.
Although Amanda is living far beyond her means, her gardeners are even more important than her own family. She will happily skip any shopping trip to afford the wages of the garden staff.
Legally the house is still the property of her ex-husband but as long as the court case was still in full swing, but she would blissfully pretend that everything was simply fine. Even the faintest possibility of losing her precious garden was unthinkable.
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‘At least have a bit of my Melanzane alla Parmigiana’, Felix says and offers her a bowl of carefully layered white eggplant and black tomatoes topped off with a layer of oozing cheese. ‘It’s all coming straight from the garden, fresh and tasty’, he continues to try and convince Amanda to eat something but to no avail.
‘Not in this dress darling, no, imagine spilling tomato sauce on this Gucci number, I would never forgive myself’, and waves him away.
Felix turns away disappointed and returns into the protective shade of the house. He understands that her upcoming solo exhibition at the Emmanuele W. Zarfitti Gallery is her last hope. He was able to convince his brother to host her show as a favour. But her mood had become quite dark since her court case back in Italy.
He was also feeling the strain.
‘Que merda’, he mutters and empties the entire oven dish in the bin under the sink.
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Felix, Emmanuele and Amanda can feel the piercing sun burn into their bronzed bodies. They are lying on canvas sun loungers under a deep blue sky amongst waving pink Muhlenbergias.
‘Such a success it was last Saturday’, Amanda ushers looking sideways to the two brothers.
Emmanuele grins. ‘Well thankfully Felix came up with the idea to invite your ex-husband for an exclusive preview. And thank you Amanda to have worked day and night on that last big canvas we needed for the show. The painting of those Solanaceaes with black berries and dark purple flowers was just divine and dark.
It certainly paid off’, he continues.
‘O thank you dear’, Amanada waved away his compliment with her freshly manicured hand. ‘I was so surprised that he decided to buy it, especially at that price. Just a shame that he was taken ill just after those canapes that you prepared Felix. And I hear that unfortunately the news from the hospital is not good.’
Felix nodded. He had decided to use some of the berries from the same Solanaceae plant to decorate the canapés for the preview. One of Amanda’s books on deadly nightshade plants explained that the mysterious dark berries were officially called Atropa ‘Belladonna’. How wonderful and totally befitting, Felix had thought.
‘Que bella donna’, Emmanuele shouted.
Amanda giggled.
(All copyright E. Sohl - Illustration: Koffierimpels / https://www.instagram.com/koffierimpels/ - Editor: C. Hommez)
