Portchie
takes a bold paintbrush to the canvas and delights the onlooker with images that celebrate
life. A brightly coloured world emerges where the trees are blue, the skies
expansive and the people simple. A universal theme with universal appeal.
The reason for the popularity of
Portchie's work probably lies in a childhood spent in Tweeling, a Free State hamlet where
the world stretches to eternity and life is simple but colourful. All his paintings
depicts ordinary people doing ordinary things. It is this very simplicity that is in
the heart and sole of the man and his work. The expansiveness of the Free State can
still be seen in his paintings but the subjects have become all people everywhere -
children flying kites in China, a woman hanging her washing somewhere in Portugal, a young
girl feeding chickens in a dusty Indian backyard.
