The most popular posts on my blog to date have been those I wrote about the quirky artwork that adorns the outside walls of random homes in the small village of Friemersheim in the Southern Cape.

For some reason readers have been attracted to these posts in far greater numbers than any of my other 300 plus posts – a tad ironic when you consider the title of my blog is “Mostly Birding”, as this is the one post that has no birds mentioned other than those depicted in the murals!

But I’m not complaining – It’s just the persuasion I need to post some more photos of the artwork that has appeared since those posts.

So let me remind you about Friemersheim with some of the details from the original post …..

Where is Friemersheim?

This small town, described by some as a hamlet, lies a short distance inland of Great Brak River, itself a small town on the coast of the southern Cape, not far from our home town Mossel Bay

The Artwork

Friemersheim was firmly placed on the tourist map during lockdown, when South African artist Fourie Ackermann, who moved to the area in 2015, decided to liven things up with murals painted on the walls of local houses. And did he make a good job of it!

It is an ongoing project it seems, as new murals ‘pop up’ on houses throughout the spread-out town on a regular basis.

During a recent bird atlasing trip to the area around the town I took some ‘time off’ from birding to drive through the town and view the murals that had appeared since my previous posts

Here’s what I found …..

Cottage with it All!

We came across this charmingly “artworked” cottage a couple of kilometres before the town itself- a perfect combination of reality and imagination and incorporating several of Fourie’s trademark features-

The side wall has a zebra in a doorway, a real door and an alcove with a tractor

The front wall has a friendly couple waving forever to passers-by, a real door, and…

a real window decorated with painted shutters, a few balloons, flowers and a black cat just visible through the lace curtain

Cheetah on a Rock with Two Cubs

This house on the main road through the village has just one painting of a cheetah and its cubs perched on a rock

Zooming in, the detail becomes clear…

Leopard in a Tree

Further on along the same road, this small shop serves as the canvas for another of the big cats – this time a Leopard in a tree

Leopard Watching

Still on the Leopard theme, this one has surely spotted prey, judging by the focused stare

Fish Eagle

One wall of another modest house is adorned with this image of an African Fish-Eagle with a fish clutched in its talons

Lion in a House

I particularly enjoy the quirky side of Fourie’s artistic murals, such as this lion glaring at you through a large ‘hole in the wall’ of the abode, with a sunbird perched on a thin stem for good luck

More Cheetahs

My first post on this unique town included the image below of cheetahs with a real dog (disturbingly chained) on the front lawn.

The dog is no longer there (thank goodness) but the adjoining wall has now been decorated with another cheetah scene

This town is a treat to see if you are ever in the area!