Sunsets at home

AFRIKABURN 2013

I thought I had not taken any photos at AB this year but turns out I did on Day 1...

Home life view... these clouds do look as good as I thought they did

The golden light

It seems this Porcupine is also a smoker and its one parent is a Rhino...

The flame thrower refuelling in Dedoorns

A new screenprint for me

I am so pleased with my new screenprint from Modern Radar - it's called 'Abstract Garden'
It's the yellow one in the middle

Listening to this beautiful song...

And because I am old school (I don't have membership to the Apple club) I may need to go buy the CD...

Passion / Desire

I am so very glad I read this today... it is just what I needed to see.  Everything wavers and that's Okay.

Passion / Desire

“It’s not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it’s about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then you’ll be a great cook. If it’s only about passion, sometimes you’ll be good and sometimes you won’t. You’ve got to come in every day with a strong desire. With passion, if you see the first asparagus of the springtime and you become passionate about it, so much the better, but three weeks later, when you’ve seen that asparagus every day now, passions have subsided. What’s going to make you treat the asparagus the same? It’s the desire.”
- Thomas Keller

Via Swissmiss (via Kottke) 

Forest time - hyper surreal

Even though Tokai plantation is, well, a plantation I still find it very soothing to walk there.  I wonder if it has something to do with the perfectly straight lines the tress are planted in?  But then that everything else is totally random, depending on ones view.

Shweshwe cloth - my national treasure

I am a huge fan of shweshwe cloth and have metres of the stuff that I sometimes turn into cushions or bags.  I think it is a very under appreciated fabric and a national treasure. 

There is currently an exhibition on at The Salve Lodge at the top of Adderley Street which is just phenomenal and something I would highly recommend everyone go visit.

Material women? The shweshwe story
This exhibition displays a series of costumes, accessories and contextual images collected by Dr Juliette Leeb-du Toit, which retrace the origins of isishweshwe cloth. It focuses on the roots of this cloth as a trade item in Asia and 17th-century Europe until it became established as a successful and iconic southern African material. This ethnic-print cotton fabric, synonymous with traditional African dress, is widely used as an apron of the Xhosa makoti as well as high fashion clothing by western women. The material collected by Leeb-du Toit over many years was donated to Iziko in 2012
Enquiries: Wieke van Delen, Tel. 021 467 7203 or email wvandelen@iziko.org.za

Da Gama Textiles currently produces the 'three cats' range and the full shweshwe offering can be seen on their website.  I find that locally Fabric City on Sir Lowry road has the widest range in stock to purchase by the metre.  Cape Dewing Centre further along on Sir Lowry road also stocks some interesting shweshwe.

They also have a page about the history of shweshwe here  - happy reading!

  

Cushion covers

R280 each
This does not include the inner

** And ironing is not really my thing so they look a little crinkly

Anantomy 101 Range - skull, head and heart

Geometric circles - available in any colour

Geometrics - the first one has the outline of a leaping hare. Any colour combinations possible

Animus - as shown various colour combinations can be achieved

Inspiring spam - the good old range from my inspiring spam print collection now on cushions

FORTS - an exhibition

Curated by Amy Ellenbogen and Mariah Breitenberg.
It was up for 1 night at 'Let there be Light' Space in the Side Street Studios complex in Woodstock.

Some of the things I liked below and I also purchased two beautiful artworks by Kirsten Rielly.  Really very pleased with them.

All Work available to order online as editions from Mariah Breitenberg of Gather.

Artworks by Kirsten Rielly

Tent installation by Nix Davies

FORTS was held at 'Let there be light' studio in the Side Street Studios in Woodstock

Camping installation for FORTS

X marks the Spot  - from Charl and John Edwards.

Some words that I love

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas 

seeker of truth
follow no path
all paths lead where
truth is here
- E.E Cummings

“To be nobody but yourself in a world 
which is doing its best day and night 
to make you like everybody else 
means to fight the hardest battle 
which any human being can fight 
and never stop fighting.” 
- E.E Cummings

Table Décor...

And that's how my Origami landed up in the Goodman Gallery.
The House&Liesure Art issue magazine launch
I think I like this ladies hair the most ... thank you for taking a closer look lady with cool Jozie hair

How very cool

Thank you Malibongwe Tyilo from 'Skattie what are you wearing' for mentioning the 'tak bok' as his favourite bokkie in the VISI autumn Magazine.

Flippin' love his blog... it's terribly fun and most importantly rather irreverent (well, that's what I kinda get) and the attention to detail in his pics is brilliant. I'd probably have to melt into the floor in my t-shirt and jeans if we ever came across each other... eeekkkkk

An Origami 'flower' arrangement

Muizenberg mornings

Shape shifter

Playing with abstract form : Imperfect Crystal Structure

I've been looking at perfection vs imperfection lately and playing with folding, no fold is the same, no book is the same but the end result is one of perfect balance to me. Like snow crystals look perfectly symmetrical they aren't necessarily but there is an illusion of perfection.

Imperfect/Perfect
Folded book pages

Something new

I took this photo in Namibia's Naukluft National Park in May a couple of years ago.  There had been lots of very rare rainfall and as such the desert was coated in green grass and little yellow daisies.  

PRESS: 'Saved from a Pulp Affliction' by Laurice Taitz

Thank you Laurice Taitz for a great article about my work.

The full article can be read online or in the print addition

Permission & Brand association I never knew about

I've thought long and hard about writing this post and then I thought, yes, you must write it because we must all just keep learning and communicating openly through the sometimes murky waters of doing business.

So I had this scenario where my ‘Africa Reinvented’ artwork was used in a catalogue shoot for a local South Africa Brand. 

Nothing wrong with that.

Except that I was never consulted, the piece has not been credited in the catalogue and on another more personal level, my artwork is now associated with an industry that I am not a big fan of.  

It was all a big learning curve for me and for the company that used my piece.  For the record, we had a good chat about it and there are no hard feelings.  As I said to them, what’s the point of me getting worked up about it now as it is done but going forward we will both be more vigilant about managing where things come from and getting permission. 

So, I chatted with Adams&Adams Lawyers at Design Indaba, as well as a friend who is involved in all sorts of interesting things about this.  Both were adamant that it really is not on. 

But then I said, what if they had bought the piece – could they still use it in their catalogue?  The answer was categorically no.  You cannot use someone else’s artwork for promotional purposes without the permission of the artist.  

Is this is common practise in the industry in South Africa? 

Are artworks, pieces of furniture and other décor items being used in catalogue shoots with no credit to the artist/designer?  Or is my experience unique?  Are piece's generally used with permission, being credited correctly and said artist/designer is being paid a fee for the usage?

The most worrying part of it all is that I would never even have known that my artwork was in this catalogue if the actual brand had not dropped off one of the catalogues at my stand at DI.

The other interesting layer to this scenario is the brand association.  I have been involved with a conservation NGO call The Landmark foundation for a bit of time now and the brand that used my piece is a Mohair manufacturer.  Mohair Farmers are a group that Landmark is actively trying to work with to educate and change predator control methods used on farms in South Africa.  You can read more about this on their website. So now here I am having a conversation with a buyer of mohair and we are talking about my artwork that is in their brochure and my involvement with The Landmark Foundation. 

Interesting.

All I can say is that I am very pleased that the brand involved (and me) are open minded enough to see the value of talking things through.  We don’t need to agree on issues but that doesn't mean we can’t be friends and keep moving forward.

So in conclusion, it was a good learning curve and I'm glad it happened with a brand that could meet with me, have an open discussion about it immediately and shake hands.   

Going forward I am chatting to all the shops that stock my artworks and products and have requested that anything going out on a shoot needs to have been cleared with me first.  I need to know whether it is for PR or a general shoot, what brand it is for, where it will be published and ensure that I will be credited.  

Other things I liked at Design Indaba 2013

The incredibleness from Africa!Ignite - I bought one and am so happy I did

Justin Southey and Clementina Van Der Walt's art pieces in the 'totenism' collection

I loved everything about the things on this emerging creative's (Nawaaz Saldulker) stand.  I took a photo of his business card as the layout of that I also thought was spot on.

Ikstingkt - a very well resolved Flatpack magazine rack in the shape of a Rhino.  What I liked was the level of detail in the design which could be applied to various other animals/shapes.  Fantastic packaging.

Zanzan Umbrellas  - made with Wax print designs.  Brilliant. Now maybe we can get the Schweschwe factory to stay open...  

The Visibility vest and bag really hit home I thought.  Most of South Africa commutes in the dark and walks along the side of road during phases in their journey.  We hardly even have pavements in most places.

The CCDI Handmade Collection for 2013 was vaguely more interesting this year than last year but still I thought sort of missing the boat.  Maybe it was due to lack of entries though?  When compared to products on display at the Totenism exhibition it is clear that there is a high calibre of exciting work available. Pictured is work from The Wren Design Studio (bags), David Bellamy (wall rack), Indigi (bowls and stools) and Sithabe African Crafts (mirror)

Clever and a great concept - but I wonder how well these do on gravel roads in rural areas or even on the pot-holed pavements and streets in our townships?  

I'm a sucker for African Fabric print so loved the Elle Deco stand covered in it