WILD & STILL: my first solo exhibition

WILD & STILL is now open! Strijdom van der Merwe gave a beautiful opening talk and many people watched, and participated, in my performance art piece on the opening evening during June's First Thursdays. 

This exhibition of artworks aims to achieve a tension between the raw power of the wilderness and tranquillity in our local natural landscapes. The artworks include still snapshots of wildness, in the form of paintings, drawings, mixed media work, and original limited edition prints. 

Featured in the diary of the Country Life!

Detail from "Eye of the Storm"

Detail from "Organic Matters"

Detail from "Forces of Soil"

Detail from "Tanglewood"

Preview and buy works from WILD & STILL: stateoftheart.co.za/curator/15/wild--still 

View photos of the exhibition and artworks on Facebook. 

and

JOIN ON 14 JUNE FOR MY ARTIST WALKABOUT AT 11AM

StateoftheART Gallery, 61 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town.
The gallery is next to G2 Art Gallery, on the fan walk, between Bree street and Loop street, in the heart of Cape Town. 

See you there!

more info, see the catalogue, and watch the video:

janetbotes.com/wild-still-exhibition

New work: February 2014

More information on this work and two other new Nuances works:

Spirit of the Desert: janetbotes.com/spiritofthedesert

Sinai Mountains: janetbotes.com/sinaimountains

Oludeniz: janetbotes.com/oludeniz

I am also doing some interesting 'experiments', drying kelp and sea lettuce:

See more

And... this morning I spent my early morning on Gordon's Bay beach to create land art. View photographs on my website or facebook page.

New work - Nuances: A Cape Journey

New work in the NUANCES series

Nuances: A Cape Journey

by Janet Botes

Limited edition print - photographic collage printed on archival paper

W:87cm x H:52cm (paper size, unframed)

2013

Edition Size: 5

R3 300 at www.StateoftheART.co.za

This is the first Nuances work with a human figure present. The deeper message of the Nuances series centers around environmental conservation, and this artwork acknowledges the role that we as human beings play as part of nature. We form part of nature, but can also step up and take our place as guardians, not masters, of the natural landscape. While other Nuances works focus on specific areas in South Africa, this work incorporates photographs from various places in the Northern Cape, Western Cape as well as Eastern Cape.

New Nuances work: Cape Columbine

Cape Columbine

photo montage

limited edition print on acid free art paper

84 x 84 cm

Edition size: 5 (4 available for sale)

2012

This Nuances work is inspired by and created from photographs I took while walking on the coastline of, and South of, Paternoster on the West Coast. The mark of (hu)man is evident in most of the areas along this coastline, but it remains an amazing and breath-taking stretch of sand, rocks and marine life. Protected areas such as the West Coast National Park and the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve (CWCBR) are very important in protecting sea life, animal life, fynbos and intricate eco system(s) found on the West Coast of South Africa.

Buy yours now at StateoftheArt.co.za

Nuances series: George Sedgefield

Nuances: George Sedgefield, Janet Botes, Limited edition print on archival fine art paper, 800 x 800mm (paper size, unframed), 2012, Edition Size: 5 (only 3 still available for sale)

This Nuances work was inspired by the beaches and lakes of Sedgefield on the Garden Route. The Outeniqua Mountains close to George is visible on the horizon. The ebb and flow of life and ecology is so tactile and visible in these areas, that it almost seems like a you enter through a walkway into a new world, a respite from "everyday life". Sedgefield is classified as a "slow town" and boasts a weekly farmer's market. Most of the beaches fall in nature reserve areas, as part of Cape Nature, and the beautiful stretches of beach are almost unspoilt. But even in this piece of paradise the mark of human industry and consumerism is visible in the fragments and bits of plastic that washes ashore. After visiting this landscape, the artist has a renewed dedication towards playing a part and picking up plastic waste from Cape Town's beaches.

This is the first Nuances work that are available as a 800 x 800mm print. Click here to buy the 800 x 800mm size print for R3200. To buy the smaller 650 x 650mm standard size for the Nuances series, contact me at art@janetbotes.co.za or State of the Art at info@stateoftheart.co.za.

Illustration for Greenpop

Illustration that I did on Monday for Greenpop's Good Things Happen When You Plant a Tree campaign. This is printed on the Assembly's latest line-up brochure, as the collector's poster on the flip-side. It is also used in the flyer for their third COOL AS FOLK party: ecojunki.blogspot.com/2011/10/greenpop-cool-as-folk-party-at-assembly.html

Towards the South

Latest Nuances addition, entitled "Southbound":



This print will be available for sale on State of the Art soon.
Limited edition of only 5 prints, printed on Somerset Velvet paper.

You can also see other works from the Nuances series in the gallery on my website.

New work

Playing around digitally

I've got a whole table full of paints, paintbrushes, paper and canvas that I packed out and started to work on this morning. Then after an entire afternoon spent on car stuff, I end up behind the computer and while looking for good landscape photographs, came accross some old misty photos taken on Signal Hill and started playing with them. The result can be seen above.

And below is progress on the landscape that I showed a week or two ago.