800 Drawings

Tshwane University of Technologys'; Fine Arts department is busy with a really great fun raiser.

It is called Every Other Day and it is this Thursday, they are hosting it at Asbos Theatre, Corner Albeth & Lynnwood rd, Die Wilgers, 0184 Pretoria, South Africa. The aim of the fundraiser is to have money for art students in need of everything from material to food money that study in the department.

There are over 800 artworks all the size of an A5 on display, the artworks will be sold for R100, though some of them are for more as they are by professional artists and worth so much more.

The varity itself that is available is rather astonishing so the chances that there is something that you won't like or want to own is pretty darn slim. There are even a few done by me, Chandre aka the Cinnamon.

Happy art buying,
Cinnamon

Green Beans and Coffee, I say I am

Sometimes amazing artists walk with flair and an in your face attitude of I am so amazing that you should bow down and kiss my feet. John Robbertse does not do this, he is great, on the verge of becoming famous and yet walks with a quiet humbleness and openness about him that is far greater than his amazing art.



So Clara (The Ginger) and I, did a quick and easy interview with him. Well how hard could five questions be?

1. The ice-breaker or calm down question of ours, if you could chose would you rather hug an honey badger or a grizzly bear?

Honey Badger [I did a happy dance in my seat about this ( Honey badger 2-Grizzly bear 3)] because
you can cradle it like a baby.

2. What is currently your biggest inspiration?

There was a few seconds pause before he answered, The Sea, Van Goghs' tragic life, Dali and fairy tales. The eccentricities of how life works and (I think the most current one) his own heritage as an Afrikaans person, the culture and the society of it.

3. Tell us about Spoons:

He is fascinated by spoons and the stories they have to tell. A spoon is an object that has been used so many times and so many hands have touched them as spoons are one of the most commonly used items. he loves found objects and up-cycling by giving new life into old things, his entry to the Sasol New Signatures art competition is evidence of this (pictured above), he likes giving almost human qualities to inanimate objects, a comment about the positive and the negative parts of society.

4. Favourite medium?
"Oil paint definitely, it has such a rich history in art. it is the motherboard or mafia of all art mediums. It is the rockstar of all mediums." Which is cool since John is an amazing glass artist as well.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
1 or 2 solo exhibitions as well as travelling around the world and hopefully lecturing art somewhere.

If you want to get a hold of John, he is on facebook. We will be following him and hopefully having more to do with him in the future.

Inside story and burnt coffee with the Ginger

We have a ritual on Tuesdays, actually almost any day we both are on campus. We get coffee and sit and chat for a while, this can be quick or a lazy period of time. Sometimes we are having moments when we both wonder why the arts was a good decision, when we are tired and broke and hitting a wall, or we just compare pictures of cats and corsets, we haven't found cats in corsets though I am sure we would compare those too.

We have red benches on campus, outside of the cafeteria, if the weather is nice, the two of us and a lot of our friends, can be seen there when we aren't in class. I think; a lot of our lecturers think we are each others partners in crime. Don't worry we will be giving tours of where we work on campus soonish.

So here is the lovely Clara Jansen, the textile designer of our little duo or The Ginger on the blog. Clara is busy with her BTech in Textile design and an amazing dyer of fabrics. She and other designers and Arts have a Stall at DecorX in Johannesburg soon. 

What makes you giddy with excitement about your field? 

A room full of brightly coloured textiles e.g: indian fabrics. A lovely wallpaper or fabric, I will die for a scarf. (She wears one pretty much everyday, between her pixie cut and scarves, she has a signature look that is amazing.)

Are you inspired more by local design or more internationally?

Traditional crafts excite me, especially traditional textiles. Internationally crafts a craft unique to its country holds its own fascination. Locally the boom in hand printed textiles is also a source of different inspiration.

Are there particular countries that you want to go too?

Unsurprisingly the first thing she said was Scandinavia, she loves vikings and folk art of these regions. Eastern Europe and the Middle East, were also on the list of places to go and people to see.

What is the difference between a conceptual textile designer and a technical textile designer?

"Design for me doesn't have to be conceptual based, so that is a difficult question." Conceptual textile designers do more once off pieces and they do more art pieces or statements. Where technical designers will be more geared towards industry and the world of more mass produced textiles or textiles that are more towards the needs of people.

Would you rather hug a honey badger or a grizzly bear? 

"Grizzly bear," was replied with a huge giggle.

Coffee with Cinnamon

It was 8:00 and the two of us are holding on to our coffees for dear life (because nobody functions without coffee this early) at the Hazelwood Food Market at the Greenlyn Village in Pretoria. More details about the market later. The reason we came together was to kick off the first official post for our blog.

Introductions are in order, I think. My name is Clara Jansen and I am clutching coffee with my fellow blogger, Chandré Nortier. The aim of this escapade is to introduce her to our readers. Many other escapades will follow as the two of us will be visiting craft and flea markets, conventions, tradeshows, share some DIY ideas and good restaurants in the ways we understand how. The blog, for me, is all about getting out and enjoying whatever I may find.

Down to brass tacks; this post is not about me. It is to introduce Chandré…

Chandré is a second year Fine Arts student at the Tshwane University of Technology majoring in Painting and Printmaking. She defines printmaking as a traditional form of art capturing an image on a two dimensional surface by not drawing or painting it. Methods of printmaking include Silkscreen printing, etching and lino. She admires British-Nigerian artist Yinko Shonibare and South African artist Desireé Malan. The end goal for this talented lady is to have a career in restoring art or become a lecturer for Art Theory.

In a world where artists are making more and more extreme art statements and try to shock the viewer, she feels that art is allowed to still be beautiful and does not need to make a statement or be extreme. In her art she focuses more on the aesthetic value and technique of the painting or print, rather than the concept. She considers her skill to be stronger than her conceptual development, which links to the fact that she is also a crafter.

Yes, this lady has many talents. Some of her other skills are very much related to craft and textiles. She can knit, crochet, sew, quilt and do fibre art. Ironically she prefers crafting over her majors at university due to the fact that she does not like to have dirty hands.

To conclude our first official post I had to ask if she would rather hug a Grizzly bear or a Honey badger. Her answer was the Honey badger. Good luck with that…

Have a splendid week filled with coffee, good food, beautiful things and good friends.

Peace and Love

Clara