To create

Inspired by one of the blogs I follow, This Brown Wren, Daniel and I gathered newly fallen blooms from the garden, leftover mint leaves from the kitchen counter (after we made this) and wilted petals from a bouquet of flowers I received from my husband for our wedding anniversary. Daniel then spent the rest of the afternoon on the floor, sticking the flowers on his drawing. I, camera in hand, looked at him and the joy this little project gave his. I was reminded that it’s fun making things, whether it is a drawing, a photograph, a crocheted blanket, a cake. Whatever leaves you fulfilled and glowing is different for all of us, but making the time to create seems so obviously beneficial. So why do we make so little time, then? 

So THAT’S how it happened - Noah and the dinosaurs

Daniel has this small notebook that he draws in. Recently he made a little series of drawings all about Noah and the Ark.

In the first drawing, Noah is assigned by God to make the ark from wood provided to him.

The rain starts and the ark is now floating, but in the distance you can see two dinosaurs on a hill that forgot to board the ark.

By now, only the top of the heads of the dinosaurs are now still showing while the ark is still floating around. And that, dear friends, explains the extinction of dinosaurs from our planet!

Image credits :-) Daniel Kornelius

Seeing stars at the Wits Art Museum

After almost a week of being confined to the house by the flu, the weekend was the perfect excuse to get out of the house, but then, how do you celebrate your first day out? Something special is needed… So, on the recommendation of my physicist friend, who is generally quite proud of what happens on his campus, it was off to the newly opened Wits Art Museum.

Warren Buffett is quoted as having said “today you’re sitting in the shade because twenty years ago someone planted a tree.” Well, seven decades ago a staff member at the Arts department of Wits received a R150 grant from the University to use as a teaching aid. She went on to spend the money on the beginnings of a collection that has since grown to include more than 9,000 works. In 1977, the Getrude Posel Gallery opened to become the collection’s first permanent home, but in 2002, when the University needed the space for student facilities a new locale was needed.

Within the University’s cultural precinct, on the corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Jorissen Street in Braamfontein, a modern new building with peripheral glass walls is the exciting new home for the Wits Art Museum. It boasts 5,000m2 of space over four floors. To celebrate the opening of the Museum on the 19th of May this year, an exhibition named WAM! Seeing Stars was opened - it features almost 400 pieces of extraordinary African art. Designed to celebrate and highlight the stars of the entire collection, you can see bronze sculptures by Sydney Kumalo, charcoal drawings by William Kentridge and photos by David Goldblatt.

In each gallery I visit there is a highlight that comes home with me, and I can never tell which one it’s going to be. Here, it was the delightful Swansong of a Sausage Dog by Bruce Arnott, and it’s my favourite work in the gallery just because it made me smile, go back to look at it again, and made the flu of the past week fade into the background on a cloud of whimsy!

You can like their Facebook page here.

Image credits: All photography by me

Neil's shoes by Cathy Miles

I saw a picture earlier today on Pinterest that I just have to share with you. It is a piece of wire art called Neil’s Shoes and was created by Cathy Miles, an English metal smith whose works take the form of three-dimensional drawings.

This particular piece was inspired by an old silversmith’s box of work shoes – just random shoes that had been worn in his workshop and were covered in metal dust and full of holes.

You can read more about the artist here.

Image credits: Cathy Miles

Still daydreaming....

Maybe it is a Monday thing - I had the same problem last week. I am supposed to kick start the week's work and I spend too much time staring at the calendar thinking of other things to do (read TRAVEL) rather than updating ledgers, paying suppliers, doing cash flow analysis....

I love the creativity of these artists below. Their work achieves, I think, the same magic trick that was shared by all the great impressionists: if you’ve been to one of these cities before, the image leaves you warm with nostalgia, and it manages to make even the most obvious touristy things about it look glamorous. If you haven’t been, that way in which the image is constructed captures the essence of the place in such a way that you get a pretty good idea of what it must be like.

I've posted before about Vahram Muratyan's prints comparing New York to Paris. (Go and visit his website again to see some of his new prints). 

Marisa Seguin is an illustrator from Canada and these prints are from her “Here and There” collection. To see more of her work, click here. 

Fernando Volken Togni is an illustrator from Brazil. This selection below was done for the Qatar Airline’s inflight magazine “24-hours-in” series.

Image credits: Marisa Seguin and Fernando Volken Togni

Lesser Kestrels in the Karoo

Every year when we go home in the summer to my parents hotel in the Karoo (you can read my post about it here), we are witness to an amazing bird phenomena. As dusk approaches, hundreds of Lesser Kestrels seems to appear out of nowhere. They circle the air above the hotel preparing to roost for the night in huge desert pine trees in our neighbour’s yard.

These small falcons migrate every year from Russia and Eastern Europe to spend the summer months in the Karoo area. During the day these birds forage on insects, spiders and small vertebrates in the Karoo veldt and in the evenings they gather in flocks of thousands to feed and roost communally in large trees in rural towns. So if you find yourself at sunset in Britstown from late-November to late-February, look up into the sky and be amazed at the incredible cloud of birds.

Aren’t these pictures, all taken last month, quite beautiful? 

The painting below was done by landscape artist, Karin Daymond. She is a South African painter living in Nelspruit. She says that she enjoys the process of finding a sense of order in what might initially seem like chaotic nature and then distilling this into a painting.

It’s because of the kestrels at home that this particular one caught our eye on a visit to a Rosebank gallery, and I show you a photo of it here, because now if you want to see the original you’d have to be standing next to my in-laws’ bed :-)!

You can read more about the artist here.


 

Image credits: 1 & 2) Photos taken by me 3) Karin Daymond

A Splash of colour

"Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."
Edgar Degas

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."
Claude Monet

Image credits: 1) Tumbler (via Limi Ricki Blog)

2 & 3) Michelle Armas (via Once Wed)

Make one perfect copy

Jennifer Collier is a UK artist who makes beautiful household objects using paper “fabrics”. She treats paper as if it were cloth, by waxing it and then using stitching as her main technique, giving her art a contemporary twist. 

She gets her inspiration from the paper itself and she allows the narrative of the books from which she harvests the paper to suggest the forms. Look closely at the words on her typewriter...

Her works can be bought online. I love the map camera.

Image credits: All by Jennifer Collier

I was shot in Joburg!

I first noticed the “I was shot in Joburg” initiative at Market on Main a couple of weeks ago. At the time it seemed interesting, but I paid some closer attention to this initiative after seeing an exhibition of their work at the Mosaiek Church in Fairlands last week. It turns out that this initiative is more than just interesting, and it’s something I’d like to share with you.

Bernard Viljoen is a Joburg based photographer that got involved with a group of boys from Twilight Children, a shelter for street kids in Hillbrow, in the form of a photography course. They took photos of their environment and it led to an exhibition at the end of 2009 at Arts on Main.

After that, Bernard took the project to a new level by helping them to generate an income and “I was shot in Joburg” was born. What makes this so inspiring is that this one person, using nothing but the skills and passion he already has, has made a real difference to this country. It’s a real example to all of us to look for ways to contribute, with a reminder that it would not require us to go and do something we’re not good at or don’t enjoy – what it would take is the willingness to not keep our talents to ourselves but share them!

You can book one of their photographers for an event or you can buy photos and other products at Market on Main or online.

Visit their website or like their Facebook page.

Image credits: Photography by me

A tally of two cities

Today I want to share with you one of the blogs that I love. It is all about "a friendly visual match between two cities told by a lover of Paris wandering through NewYork".

You can follow Vahram Muratyan's blog on this link : http://parisvsnyc.blogspot.com/.

Image credits: All images by Vahram Muratyan

Maboneng – “a place with lights”

Last month the three of us went to the Maboneng precinct in the Johannesburg city centre (264 Fox Street) to visit ARTS ON MAIN. I’ve been back a couple of times and I just love it there!

In a converted warehouse, that is all bare brick and industrial iron, you will find a multi-purpose district with art galleries, a David Krut book and art supply store, studios (including the studio of world-renowned artist William Kentridge) and retails shops such as Love Jozi and Black Coffee.

But the highlight for us was the courtyard, scattered with fully grown olive trees, wrought-iron tables and chairs, and the hip crowd on blankets under the trees drinking freshly roasted coffee. CANTEEN, a fantastic little restaurant looks out onto the main courtyard.

Sundays are the best time to go when Market on Main is also at the venue. Check the Arts on Main website or their Facebook page to see when they have night markets or other special events.

It is truly worth a visit. Just keep in mind that the business hours are a bit unconventional.

And remember to invite me along!

All photography by me