Dandelions – Oil Painting by Cornelie Wolff

Dandelions – Oil Painting

Dimensions: 400 mm x 400 mm x 40 mm 

Medium: Oil

Step into a poetic moment of quiet fragility and dramatic contrast with Cornelie Wolff’s ‘Dandelions.’ This evocative oil painting elevates a simple, everyday subject into a luminous, sophisticated piece of art, celebrating the magical transition of the dandelion seed head.

The oil painting employs a stunningly moody, chiaroscuro effect, setting the delicate subject against a vast, matte-black background. This deep void allows the central elements to glow with an ethereal, silvery light. The dandelion clocks, standing tall in a glass jar, are rendered with exquisite, almost ghostly realism. Wolff uses subtle strokes of white, grey, and pale blue to capture the fuzzy, delicate texture of the parachute seeds, suggesting the briefest moment before they scatter into the wind.

The glass jar is treated as a fascinating study in reflection and refraction, its curved surfaces distorted by the thick impasto of light-colored paint, making the glass appear wet and solid. A few seeds have escaped, resting on a softly illuminated base, further emphasising the theme of fleeting beauty and wish-making.

Oil Painting

Cornelie Wolff Approaching Art from a Different Angle

This Johannesburg-based artist started as a pharmacist.  After completing her Honours Degree in Psychology, she joined Helios to further her skills in Art Therapy.   During this time, she fell in love with art, the process and the emotional power it yields.

While raising her family, which consisted of three young children, she took part-time classes with Rika de Klerk and Willie Jacobs.  She also attended workshops led by Koos Bronkhorst, Niel Moss, Willie Jacobs, Rentia Coetzee, Ruth Walters, Elize Bezuidenhout, Douw van Heerden, Charla Maarschalk, and Jennifer McChristian.

Today, she practices what she preaches by creating her work under the motto: “With every painting I complete, I grow as a person and an artist.”

My art is created from a place of wonder – it is my dream for every human to never completely lose the child inside them, because it is our ability to see wonder and magic in things.  I use bold brushstrokes, contrast and an impressionistic approach to entice the viewer to create their own interpretation of the subject and become part of my world.