Stubborn Dedication - An Artist's Account

Initially written in 2012, finally published in 2015.

The path towards becoming an established artist is a rocky, winding, challenging road, but as anyone who persevered and achieved or reached a dream would be able to attest, it's a worthy path to take. This is an account of my journey towards becoming and remaining a professional artist, succeeding only through stubborn dedication, blind faith and the support of family and friends. I give tips about reaching your own dream, developing your own art, and share some insights and mishaps that lit up my path.

A girl with a dream

I grew up in a very happy home. One of my objectives or motivations throughout life has always been to make my parents proud.  At school I achieved great grades, got involved in different activities and sports, and shared experiences with friends. And I loved to draw. Art was one of my favourite subjects, and because I spent a lot of time drawing, my skill developed and I got appreciation for my creativity from teachers, class mates, and my parents. I was entered into the local art association's annual art evaluations and got awarded great awards for three of my works, an A++ among them. At the age of 13 I listed my potential career options as: artist, air hostess or game ranger.

Among class mates

During high school I took Art as subject and the art class became my haven. We painted a Marc Chagall artwork onto the wall outside the art class, and our teacher taught us about all the great masters in Art History. We went on a field trip when I was 16 and saw art by South African artists in art galleries in Pretoria. At this time I knew that what I wanted to do with my life was to become a Lien Botha, a Chris Diedericks, Diane Victor or a William Kentridge.  I wanted to paint, draw and make inspiring art for the rest of my life.  At the same time I was being told that making a living as an artist is highly doubtful or an almost impossible challenge. So graphic design seemed like a good option - the next best thing, a compromize. So at the end of my school career my parents and I agreed that I would study for a diploma in Graphic Design, so that IF I struggle to make a living as an artist, I have a fall-back.

Student Life

The next four years were an all-consuming flurry of studying, working part time, having fun, painting, drawing, designing, lectures, taking photographs and trying to achieve in the same way that I did at school. I met amazing people, learnt a lot, and felt proud of the creative work I created. I went through ups and downs, of course, and at some stage felt like giving up and dropping out.  But I pushed through and ended up doing a post graduate year to attain my B Tech qualification. During this year I focused my attention on green or 'eco-conscious' design, and advertising that raises awareness for environmental issues. During my first years of study we had specific class times and slots for our different subjects which included communication design, photography, drawing, illustration techniques and History of Graphic Design. In my fourth year, however, I was responsible for my own working hours in between consultation times with my assigned lecturer. I got a taste for the independence of managing my own working time, and guiding my creative process in the way that I feel works best. This proved crucial in my path towards my art career.

A working woman

I got a job in a design agency straight after studying. Our exams were barely done before I started going to interviews in the city. It was a small design agency and I had a lot of creative freedom. I never needed to stay late at work and after a quick jog and dinner for one I spent my evenings painting. After half a year I moved to another city, however, and a new job in a bigger design company. At this company I only lasted the 3 month trial period, largely due to overtime and lack of creative freedom. I felt frustrated and did not have the energy after work to create artworks or even prepare food. I decided to take a shot at working as a full time artist. Easier said than done. I had some rudimentary knowlegde of business management and entrepreneurship from subjects at school and as a student, but not enough to prepare me for the challenges of trying to make AND sell art. I had to start waitressing again, and tried working at a pre-school (which lasted 3 weeks) to pay and buy rent, electricity, petrol, food and going out with my friends and boyfriend. I participated in a four-man exhibition and took my art to several art shops. But soon after I was working at a design agency again. This job lasted for almost two years, as lunch time was spent in a huge garden with a dam and ducks, I didn't work overtime and the work space was comfortable and creative. Until we moved office to a more corporate environment and the pressure increased. After long discussions late at night with my loved ones, and sleepness nights, I bailed again,  started to do freelance graphic design on a computer that a friend donated, and making abstract art.

Reclaiming the dream

I started doing commissions, promote my work at every opportunity that I could see, tried selling at markets, took my art to art shops again, and participated in group exhibitions. I worked on a make-shift table in the lounge, to the dismay of my flatmate, so did not have the extra cost of studio rent. I did receive financial help from my parents for rent, I did not know how to price my work, did not keep good records and had no real strategy. I also did not feel proud of all the artworks I was creating, mostly because I seemed to produce a lot of works, without enough engagement and emotional or meaningful intent in each work's process, due to the need to sell and 'survive'. I did get involved with some of the galleries in which I exhibited, in particular the Gallery at Duncan Yard, later renamed as the Fient Gallery, in Pretoria. I designed the exhibition invitations for a fee, and regularly showed and sold my art in the gallery. When my boyfriend went overseas for studies, I moved back home to stay with my parents for the next three months. With his return we moved to the other side of the country, to the land of milk and honey, and before leaving had an art sale where I sold the majority of my artworks for ridiculously low prices – often much less than I paid for the canvas!

Shifting gears

I had interviews for a job lined up before arriving in Cape Town. Potential jobs included being a gallery assistant for the artist and gallery owner who now frames all my art, and a graphic design position in a new company. I got the latter job, and was able to work from home on my own computer. I managed my own time, making sure I met the deadlines, but also created new paintings and experimental sculptures inbetween my time in front of the computer.

I've had a rollercoaster love-hate relationship with 'graphic design' – it has taken up its own personality in my mind, growing into a monster that threatens to take over my life and steal all my painting time. Clients seem too needy, prescriptive and demanding; bosses and production managers are dominating antagonists in my own horror movie; and everything takes superhuman proportions – all aimed against what I really wanted to do: fine art.

Graphic Design, and illustration as service, is a great creative outlet and I could make beautiful, informed, and craftful design pieces, but somehow all sense and reality loses substance when I feel caged or being prevented from creating artworks inspired by things I see and experience. So when my boyfriend landed a job, I left the paid job in lieu of freelance design and making art again. I started to attend art workshops, visited galleries and exhibitions, and met people instrumental in my success as an artist.

Balancing income with passion

In the follwoing few years I have worked as temporary gallery assistent, as freelance graphic designer, as workshop facilitator, regularly participated in group exhibitions, and had my first two-man. I have done painting commissions, illustrations, t-shirt designs and consulted for different projects in art and design. I have met other artists, gallery owners, and a huge amount of amazing people. I have rented and worked in three different studio spaces, done a host of pro bono work, and gotten involved in various initiatives that raises awareness for environmental issues. I promote and support creativity through workshops, and I constantly create new artworks. My boyfriend and I got married, he changed jobs and we went through trials together. Without the support of my family I would not have achieved as much as I have. My mother and mother-in-law each paid a third of my studio rent money at one stage. My entire family supports and encourages me, and my husband have pulled us through each bad month, each month that I struggled to cover costs and keep my chin up.

Focus and riding the cycles

Being a multi-skilled individual and having several diverging interests has its pitfalls. I have participated in various projects and initiatives, but some of them with no actual relevance to the success of my art career. I had to learn, and need to remind myself all the time, to manage my time cleverly and consciously. I still do pro bono work, I still initiate and contribute to projects that uplifts the community through creativity, and I still do awareness-raising activities for the environment.  Very occassionally I do  graphic design projects and commissions, but mostly I focus on my artmaking – making artworks that really reflect my philosophy, artworks into which I immerse myself fully to visually express ideas and thoughts with integrity and honesty. Even if these artworks don't sell quickly. Even if they are very diverse – spanning Painting, Drawing, Land Art, Sculpture, Performance Art, Photography and Digital Art – and some of them very difficult or impossible to sell. I know that it seems like I have 34 hour days – I don't. I just choose carefully how I spend my time, remind myself that each new day brings new opportunities to create art. And when I choose my clients correctly, they understand when I ask for an extention on the deadline, when I tell them about artworks for an exhibition and promise to send them an invitation.  Yes, there is compromises and sacrifices. It will never be 'easy', it IS a journey, not a destination. I constantly remind myself that I've chosen this path for a reason, I'm doing what I love, and when I really think about it: I'm living my dream.

The evolution of my art

My art has progressed and grown through many different stages and phases. And it will change constantly throughout the rest of my art career. During my studies I was encouraged, if not forced, to conceptualize my creative outcomes. To engage with the theme or subject matter, whether the objective is to create a drawing, produce a booklet, or explore the concept of “duality” through any medium and material suited to its meaning. I created work that I felt proud of, especially when I had emotional investment in the theme. This pride took a nosedip when I created artworks solely as products to sell, pictures I made merely to be visually appealing and sellable. Attending workshops, collaborating and sharing with other artists, and experimenting with my art without the pressure of money – whether it is because of financial support from family or from doing freelance projects for a fee – all contributed towards the development of my style, my focus, my technique and my chosen themes. I have read and researched about selling art, making art, writing about art and I have dedicated myself towards the development of my art. Whether it's ambition, being stubborn, being self-indulgent or selfish, or just being true to myself – I haven't given up on my dream to be the type of artists I admire since my school years.

My work has proven  to be diverse, experimental, organic, intuitive, progressively ethical, natural, earthy, and expressive.  Throughout the years my work at times seemed quite fragmented due to the diversity of materials and amount of experimentation, but on closer inspection a repetition of subject matter and overall production methods started to create a coherency or unity. The subject matter usually revolved around the natural environments that we find ourselves in, which includes people, animals and natural still life. It's evolving towards environmental art inspired in part by the notion that many of the plant and animal species on our planet is being driven towards extinction. Other works are made in response to our throwaway culture and disregard for nature, but also the way that nature persists and that there's still natural places of peace and beauty, regardless of human's pollution and disrespect for nature.

My art and success as an artist is due to many factors, but one of the most important factors is time – I've spent innumerable hours, days, months and years to develop my techniques, and the overall understanding of my art and how to promote it. Time, patience, never giving up, and not taking criticism too personally. Listen to advice and constructive criticism, and if it makes sense apply it! If it doesn't fit into your vision, however, then don't allow it to distract you. And never stop to learn, to aim higher, to improve yourself and your skills. Ask for help, but when it's not given don't be angry, just look for another avenue to explore. When one door closes, at least one other always opens, even if you don't notice it immediately.

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If you'd like to be part of my continuing journey, browse and bookmark my website, join my mailing list, like my Facebook page, follow me on twitter, or on Instagram. You can also, of course, support my career and buy my work at www.StateoftheArt-gallery.com

Video: (some) ways of working

(some) ways of working on Vimeo.

This video shows selected working methods that I use to create my art. Video footage from three different artworks are shown. The first of these is a clay and found object piece that I did for fun and as inspiration or process work for other work. The second work is an artwork that I am currently working on, a mixed media piece inspired by personal as well as scientific aspects of metamorphosis. And the last video footage shows a glimpse at the process behind a sand installation I created as part of the Walk This Earth Alone exhibition at the Gallery at Grande Provence, in Franschhoek, South Africa, in 2012.

Tips For Painting Landscapes With Watercolors

When stretching your paper, make sure you use enough water, to ensure that you'd be able to do washes and add several layers of paint for your landscape.

If you're painting from a photograph, make sure that you're sitting in a comfortable position with ample natural light. I prefer to paint during daytime, as it's more difficult to see and judge the colours you are working with at night, even with a strong light.

If you are painting on-site, make sure that you find yourself a comfortable spot and that you have good support for your stretched-paper-on-board. Try and find the ideal light conditions - the shade of a tree, or somewhere where the reflected light from the sun onto your paper does not strain your eyes.

Working with layers are a nice way to 'build up' your landscape. This ensures that you don't darken areas too quickly. The secret to a great watercolor work is to have a balance between unpainted and painted areas, so leave areas and highlights white from the start, you can always add colour, but you can't take it away! Start very light, with thin washes, and only when dry, add your next wash.

For mountains, clouds, sky and the ground, use a lot of water. Two techniques for this is as follows:

• thin down your paint with a lot of water before applying it to the paper in long, loose strokes
• Use loose, long strokes to apply water to the paper and then add colour to the wet areas. Use the brush to spread the paint as desired, but be careful not to brush excessively in these wet areas, as you're paper might start to fluff!

Start adding shapes and structures quite loosely - blobs for bushes, keeping your paint flowing and quite diluted with water. After having a layout of your landscape that resembles you looking at the real landscape in front of you (or photograph) through squinted eyes, start using your paint with less water for more opacity. Add details, distinguishing marks and lines.
 
To achieve different textures, use different items such as:

• different sizes and shapes of brushes. You can also make your own brushes by tying hair, grass or other thin strands tightly to a twig!
• different types of sponges and foam
• cloth - bunch it up and press unto areas where you've added paint and it's still wet, or put paint unto the cloth and dab onto the paper
• wool of different grades - bunch them up or roll a strand over the wet painted surface
• the plastic net bags that veggies are packaged into can create textures for bushes, foliage and trees

You can also use cut vegetables to achieve different results

• cover a section on the skin of an orange with paint and roll it onto your paper
• cut shapes into the flat side of a halved potato, and use it to create a repeat pattern or texture, e.g. the rocky bed of a landscape. Fill in details and different sized rocks with your brush for variation and breaking the monotony.

Experiment adding different particles and substances to your paint - try mixing before applying it onto the paper, but mostly add it on the paper into the wet painted area and brush it off when the paint is dry. Some examples:

• Sand, to partly absorb some paint and leave whitish areas
• Sprinkle salt onto a wet painted area. It dissolves partly and give great effects, nice for a snowy feel
• Grass - gives great texture and dry grass absorbs quite a bit of paint
• Look around you, what could you use? Especially if you're painting on-site you'll find a lot of things that you can experiment with and use to get different effects and textures to make your painting interesting

Have a booklet, notepad or pieces of paper with you whenever you're painting - preferably thick card, textured or watercolor paper similar to the paper that you create your landscape paintings on. Use this for tests and experiments, testing your colours, textures, and the addition of other materials to the process. And keep these tests and experiments for future use. Make notes next to each 'test' to remind you how you achieved the result.

This booklet is also handy to start playing on before you start your final landscape - make pre-sketches, quick studies and try to do the landscape - capturing its essence - within 2 minutes. Use quick, loose and unconstrained strokes. Try not to think too much and just 'feel' it. Loose and free. Now carry this feeling over when you start with your initial strokes on your artwork.

If you get frustrated and don't like what you've done, start a new one, or take the 'failure' off the board, soak in a bit of water, wipe off some of the paint, paste/stretch the paper onto the board again, and carry on over what's left when it's dry. Painting landscapes with watercolours is fun, and it can forever stay a learning process, journey of discovery and source of abundant joy. Keep all your experiments, failed attempts and final landscapes together and you'll be able to see your progress over a time period of weeks, months and years.

Play, have fun, experiment and practice!

Published in 2012 on Ezine Articles

GREEN ART: An introduction | Part 1

My introduction to Green Art - a two-part article - is published on www.StateoftheArt.co.za!

What is “Green Art” or “Environmental Art”? Throughout the ages, artists have responded to the challenges and issues relevant and prevalent during their lives. Currently, we are faced with the loss of biodiversity, with many species of animals, birds, insects and reptiles on the brink of possible extinction, or already extinct. We are beset with environmental, social and economical instability. This is partly, if not largely, due to unequal distribution of wealth and resources, the abuse and depletion of resources, greed, and pollution. These issues or themes are increasingly becoming a focus and inspiration for artists throughout the world.  

Environmentally-focused art could play a very significant role in collective concern and activism, as one of art’s main premises is to question and challenge accepted perceptions, values, or beliefs. Art also offers new solutions and inspires new understandings about the world around us, therefore playing an important role in how we change our actions and our relationship with the earth. 

Read more on www.StateoftheArt.co.za

Another extract from the article:

When choosing materials and techniques for your art, think about the following: 

• Does your paint contain synthetic pigments, and if so, why? If it's to preserve an endangered species, then the use of such products is warranted, but if the synthetic paint is hazardous in any way, then think twice about using it, and thereby supporting its continued manufacture.
• Think about what you'll do with the tubes afterwards. Maybe flatten them out and use them to create new artworks or containers for art materials.  Throwing something away just sends it to the landfill, from where it could easily seep toxins from unnatural waste into underground water tables.
• Are your materials imported from another country? Is there an alternative of equal quality produced locally? If not, could you choose another brand which is imported from a country located closer to  yours?
• What are your brushes made of? Research the difference between animal hair brushes and synthetic brushes. How is the hairs made or obtained?
• Does your paper come from sustainable sources or plantations, rather than illegal plundering of virgin forests?
• How much water is used in creating your art materials and artworks?

Read the full article 

I wrote a WikiHow article! How to get Your Art Submission Ready

Whether you want to submit your artworks for inclusion on an online gallery, to a local gallery for a possible exhibition, or to a magazine for promotional purposes, you need to make sure your art submission is complete and shows your art in the best possible way. Potential buyers, representatives, gallery owners and art agents want to see professionalism and want to know that you are proud of your art. If you are proud of your art and show it to its full potential, the chance is good you'll find success as an artist much easier to attain.

Steps

1. Finish your artwork completely. Make sure that your artworks are signed, dated (on the back if you don't prefer adding the date on the front), and neatly presented (framed, mounted, varnished, or kept in a plastic sleeve or porfolio to protect it from getting damaged).
2. Give a title to your artwork. Write the title into your artwork booklet or database (if you don't have this yet, start it now - even an empty notebook available from any stationary store is ideal, or have a file on your computer that you regularly back up onto a CD or external hard drive / print out to put into a ledger)
3. Measure your artwork. Add the width, height and if applicable, depth of your artwork alongside the title in your notebook or database. Also add the medium of your artwork and the year.
4. Write a DESCRIPTION about your artwork. A paragraph or more about the meaning or intent behind its creation, or what inspired you. Add this description to your entry of the artwork in your notebook or database - easy to find whenever you need it.
5. Take great quality photographs of your work. If you are not able to do it yourself, get a professional to do it for you (if you don't have the money to pay for it, offer a barter or swop for your creative services or an artwork the photographer likes). Take photographs of the full artwork, but also close-up images that shows your mark-making, texture and other special detail in the artwork.
6. Edit the photographs of your artworks, if needed. Make sure that each photograph matches the artwork's colours as close as possible.
7. Resize and save the images. Even if you've got a photographer taking your photographs, give him/her these directions beforehand: Make sure that you have three copies of each photograph - one high resolution image of 300dpi, for magazine submissions and printing catalogues for exhibitions, one low resolution image of about 600 pixels wide and 72dpi for use in blogs, newsletters and emails, and a medium sized image of about 1200 pixels wide (also at 72 dpi) for online galleries. Save them all together in an artwork folder that's easy to find and use. Name each photograph with your name and the title of the artwork. An example of naming the different sizes of a specific artwork's photographs are as follows: john_doe_bentreality_small.jpeg, john_doe_bentreality_med.jpeg, john_doe_bentreality_highquality.jpeg.
8. Write your ARTIST BIOGRAPHY. This is an introduction to you as person and artist, where you grew up, where you studied, what you have achieved, what makes you tick. Keep it relevant - tell them about who you are as an ARTIST.
9. Write your ARTIST STATEMENT. If you're submitting to exhibit a specific body of work / series of artworks, the artist statement would be focused specifically on that. If it's a general submission for promotion or an online gallery, then your artist statement is a more general summary of your art practice. Your artist statement is a description of HOW and WHY you create your art - methods, inspiration, motivation, materials, and other information that gives insight into what type of artist you are.
10. Compile all the information. Copy all the information about your artwork(s) from your notebook/database into a document ready for submission. Add your artist statement and artist biography to the document, or save each of them on their own or together into a separate document, ready for submission. Also add your name and contact information to each document.
11. For digital Submissions. If you're making a digital submission, e.g. to an online art gallery, make sure to attached your photographs (the low resolution images - you can send the medium resolution images on their request), biography, artist statement, information for each artwork (title, medium, size, year) and the description of the artworks you are submitting, to the email along with your greeting, reason for submission and charming message. Send!
12. For physical submissions. If you are making a physical submission to an art gallery, print out your photographs, using the high quality version(s). Also print out your artist statement, biography, information for each artwork (title, medium, size, year) and the descriptions for each of the artworks you are submitting. Put these in an envelope and deliver/send them!

Tips

• If you are submitting for a possible exhibition, or if relevant in any other way, also provide a list of exhibitions that you have participated in.
• It is also good practice to send your CV - keep it relevant and suited to the submission. Make sure to include art workshops you have attended, exhibitions and projects, and any awards you've received for your art.
• A good practice is to add small versions of your artwork to your notebook, file or database, along with the information for the artwork.
• Get family members and friends to read your biography, artist statement and descriptions of the artworks. Listen and apply any good suggestions that they might have.
• Aim at presenting your biography, artist statement and description of your artworks as neatly as possible. Use a neat, clean and simple layout and font (sans-serif fonts like Arial, Tahoma and Helvetica is great to use). The focus should be on your artwork, not the decorations, patterns and other additions to your text/content documents.
• The description of your artwork is very important, and many artists neglect this. The description gives insight to potential buyers of your work into why you created the work, and why you chose the materials or medium. An example where it has proved essential in my own art practice is a landscape painting I sold in which the location of the landscape is not obvious in the artwork itself, but in my description I did provide the context and the place where I took the photographs used to create the painting. The person who bought this particular painting has a special affinity with the area where I took the photographs, and this had a profound influence in her decision to buy the artwork.

Related wikiHows

• How to Write an Artist Statement
• How to Write a Personal Bio
• How to Title Your Work of Art
• How to Resize a JPEG
• How to Photograph Oil Paintings
• How to Make an Art Portfolio

Sources and Citations

• Based on the submission process to the online art gallery http://www.StateoftheArt.co.za

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Get Your Art Submission Ready. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Voel en Vertrou

I'm currently partaking in a workshop called In Focus, hosted by VANSA, which focuses on concept development for artists. I'ts presented, facilitated and driven by visual artist and poet Kai Lossgott and even though today was only the second day of the 5-day workshop, I already feel that I've gained a lot from it. The focus, chance and encouragement to really delve into my subconscious for new themes and concepts about... myself. Something I haven't really done in quite a bit of time. Since I've been focusing so much on themes and concepts around nature conservation, or even just inspired by nature's beauty, I've been ignoring and even suppressing personal themes or 'issues'. This could easily be seen as me only being 'half' of an artist, since an artist's biggest source of inspiration is and should be personal experience and the self as source. This is authentic, and gives your art that honesty and uniqueness that makes the viewer really LOOK at your art, wanting to know more. Because you've put in your heart, soul and passion into a piece...

I feel peaceful, and also excited.

Giving back, instead of just taking

Please do yourself a favor and read Create Beauty by Jacob Devaney (2004) on greenmuseum.org

An excerpt:

Have you ever considered giving thanks to the rocks and minerals that have been ground-up, and heated with flame to be soldered to the mother-board of your computer for the sake of transmitting light and information? When considering the impact that our technological world is taking on our natural environment, I feel that it is nothing short of blasphemy to use these tools for anything less than their highest potential. If we are lucky, media may one day live up to it's potential to inspire, delight, educate, and heal our people.

- Jacob Devaney (2004)

Quoting another artist

I found another really compelling post on www.saartistsa2z.com - a directory for artists and art lovers which is run by artist, curator and arts writer Gerhi Janse van Vuuren. I couldn't resist posting it and sharing it with you:

Human need can be distilled into five fears we all share: the fear of death, fear of the future, fear of chaos, fear of the outsider and the fear of insignificance. Every artist faces these fears as a part of their calling and as representatives of humanity.

Being an artist is a statement that says: What I do matters. It matters to me and if you accept what I do, it matters to you. And if what I do matters, then I, as the doer, matter.

Now no one need fear being insignificant.

Being an artist is a state of being that walks the edges of society. Artists choose unpopular opinions. They step out and forward, as the vanguard. They become strange even to themselves, but manage to carry on when they accept their own strangeness.

Now no one need fear the outsider.

Doing art is a process of making and unmaking. Giving shape, order and form to ideas and materials is a futile process. The world is forever sliding down the other side and what was made today begins to decay tomorrow. But tomorrow I, the artist, start remaking it again.

Now no one need fear chaos.

Being an artist is a futile game of trying to beat time. Not only have you already been beaten by the masters who lived before, but you are also being thrashed by the masters yet to be born. What one makes today is old hat tomorrow and cliché the day after. What is on the cutting edge now is lost in mediocrity a moment from now. But you can only make something today – yesterday and tomorrow are not options.

Now no one need fear the future.

Being an artist is an attempt to cheat death. It is a process of externalising pieces of yourself and casting them in forms that might outlast you. And that may exist even when you are no longer there. And because things we have made will still exist, we will not be gone, though we may be dead.

Now no one need fear death.

Thanks to artists and what they do, we matter, we belong, we have order, we have now and we live. And every artwork that exists is proof of that.

Extract from the exhibition catalogue of the Winelands VAN-Guard exhibition, edited by Gerhi Janse van Vuuren, published by VANSA Western Cape

I'm busy updating my website, and also working on proposals for exhibitions for next year. So watch this space for more exciting things to come (as opposed to quoting other artists...)!

Re-awaken, Express and LIVE

This was an idea I had a while back, for a triptych that shows both the Cape Town and Joburg skyline on either side of a hand with roots at the end of the forearm. If and when I do it, the leaves might be a tattoo on the arm, rather than just twisting around the arm.

On quite another note:

For too long I have stared blindly at the solutions and aspects of myself begging for attention/to be expressed that are right in front of me...

I have been trying to integrate focus, balance and simplicity in my daily life, but constantly fail to bring it into practice in my art. I have constantly been aware of the cycles that happen throughout our years, seasons, relationships and lives, and also the interconnectiveness of everything, but neglected to express these realizations and truths in my art. I have also been trying to focus and move towards re-awakening my own connectiveness and knowledge of nature, as well as re-awakening my body through movement and exercise, but because art is so central to my life and I have NOT fully integrated nature and movement into my art, I have not succeeded or made much headway in either.

So the path that I will follow from here on will lead me towards exploring and expressing balance, focus, simplicity and cyclic processes in my art, which will more and more take shape in the process, and documentation of Land Art, performance art and other more 'transient' forms that capture the essence of the above elements.

Relevance is Relative

What is art's relevance in our modern society where almost every fourth middle-class person can take a photograph with a digital camera and transform it into a passable artwork by utilizing imaging software such as Adobe Photoshop or Gimp?


Photograph by Holly Raider. Model...me.

I think its value lies in the artist's interpretation/expression, the integrity to his/her medium, as well as the opportunity for the viewer to interact honestly and freely to an artwork. We are constantly guided and told what to do by advertising, our bosses, our religions, our families, and our peers or friends. However, when viewing or buying art you are given the opportunity and right to judge, criticize and express your opinion about the piece of art. And the beauty of this: you will never be wrong. The person who loves a certain piece of art is no more wrong or right than the person who hates looking at the same piece of art.

There is no wrong way to do art either, as the "invalidity" of an artwork can easily be debated by referring to previous artists and artworks through the centuries and decades, such as Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades or the performance art and happenings by artists in the 60's and 70's. Art usually reflects on the society and environment that it happens in, and since we live in a very diverse world with limitless possibilities, different cultures living together, and a never-ending range of visual stimuli and subject matter for artwork, the forms that art could, does and will take, are just as limitless and unpredictable.


...And I read this on a blog I follow, called New Art:

What if there was nothing to discover? No story, no thousand words, no answer to a non-riddle? What if it was really, really, just a game of forms and colors?
Would it be a sin?
Does this lady need a past?
Is it really so bad for something to be "just" a pretty picture?
We know of the danger of beauty, we know the seductive spectacle means flirting with submission, yet is it really so immoral?

Read the full blog (with pics, etc.) here

is Dada ever going to be seen as it should?

Check out ArtHeat for an interesting review and ensuing debate about the DADA exhibition at the National Art Museum in Cape Town.

Personally I enjoyed the exhibition a lot, but would also love to know more about the curatorial process and how they chose the South African artists for the show. The latter is due to the vast amount and variety of resistance art in our country that were created during the Apartheid years and that could be viewed as similar in concept and motivation to the war-durational Dada movement.

Inspired | Invigorated | Invoked

After visiting the Sasol Art Museum in Stellenbosch this weekend, I feel incredibly inspired again. Judith Mason and Willie Bester shared the two-floor gallery, with Mason's work occupying the top floor. A haunting, exciting, exhilirating experience! Her work expresses emotion, creative expression, deeply engrained personal perspectives about the world and a skill for expression that we rarely see or experience in artists' work today.

This is in total contrast to the Western Cape regional finalists exhibition for the ABSA L'Atelier Art competition. There is some really amazing pieces of art, but in my honest opinion, most of them are not as innovative, creative, expressionistic or artistic as art could be. I was merely impressed with the mechanical and conceptual skill of the pieces, instead of being moved. There are SO many debates already about art competitions, the judging process and the representation of Art. I know that I am one of MANY artists who feel that competition and sponsoring does not succeed in what they set out to do. They do not give voice to emerging, struggling artists, but rather to the more established entrants who are able to spend countless amounts of money on framing and presenting their work. This may sound like sour grapes, at not being accepted into the competition. I can honestly say that this is not the case. I do have my own personal feelings about art, galleries' inaccessibility and other things related to getting exposure for my artwork. But I also have an opinion about art, perception and the state of contemporary art when viewed in relation to Art history. Where we were, and where we are now. There's such a wide, diverse span of differing art forms, disciplines and directions - the competitions only represent a fraction of it. Maybe that's why they get so much critique... Because they limit 'what is art' in so many people's eyes. Because they decide which artists is 'better' than other, sometimes purely due to the subject depicted or adherence to current trends.

Drawing conclusions

Our Legacy Mixed Media on paper 594mm x 410mm

Choking Tree Charcaol on paper 420mm x 570mm

Even artwork not created from a preconceived idea or concept still reflect one's perception and experience of reality and life. If someone can think about something I haven't thought of by looking at my art, it has served one of its purposes (even in this I contradict myself, as i do not wish to define purposes for art and therefor limit its impact). I do not wish to merely represent an idea, but to create an opportunity for further thought, interpretation and the creation of something new, even if only a new thought. I do not feel the need to validate and substandtiate everything I create, paint or draw. Or to create the impression that everything i do has a reason or alterior motif. I do not want to pretend to have all kinds of imbued meaning and messages in my work. I am only to represent my own perception, express my own thoughts and thereby - hopefully - inspire the viewer to do the same thing and create their own.

Ownership of Integrity

This bit of writing is inspired and prompted by recent events regarding a national – and may I add – very prestigious art competition. There has been quite some debate and opposing opinions about how art is judged and perceived, but also about participant conduct. What I’d like to explore here is the notion of ownership of creative work. Specifically, I’ll be looking at ethical consideration and proper conduct of the creative ownership of images depicting another human being.

Throughout history artists, designers and photographer have used other people a s models and main subjects in creative work. Many of these works have been challenging and even controversial. The European artists of the golden era of classical art depicted naked models and Michelangelo’s David sculpture is one of the most well-known and celebrated works of art from the Renaissance period. Sculptures and paintings like this could have, and may have, sparked issues of artistic integrity of the artists and their models. But, it probably didn’t. This may be because the works of art offered an idealist and humanistic image of man. It may also be because the artists made their intentions to the models clear and had a purpose for the artwork articulated right from the beginning of the creative process.

Nowadays we seem to have forgotten that everyone involved in the creation of an art piece or any other work is impacted by the way the finished product is used, distributed or presented. Usage rights; terms and conditions; competition rules; and copyright laws are systems created to protect creative- and intellectual property, but they are also there to try and ensure proper conduct of the creative process and the way that the property is used to impact viewers, society or users. Where and how do we integrate basic human rights and notions of integrity and personal protection into these systems? Because it does not seem to have been included to sufficiently aid or protect everyone involved in creating creative property.

Most people react negatively to an artwork when our ideal perceptions of ourselves and others are challenged. One of art’s purposes or social responsibilities is to challenge conventions and question accepted norms. Thus, I do not wish to propose that art should always be idealized views of humanity or pretty reproductions of life’s positive side. What I do want to emphasize is that if an artwork is made to challenge views and also be presented to a large audience, everyone involved in the creation of the piece should be fully aware of the extent to which the artwork could create reaction from the public. If the integrity or reputation of any participants – such as the models – could be damaged or influenced negatively in any way, they should be informed and their consent be attained. This, in my opinion, should especially apply to public work and any work that gets or could get published and made available to large audiences.

A lot could still be said on this subject and my viewpoint substantiated. However, I will conclude by saying that we are heading for an ongoing degradation of values in the creative world if artists, designer and photographers are allowed to create artwork, without regard of personal integrity and the rights of all living beings associated with the creation process.