At last, something new and original with an African flavour. Shingai Netshipise, Kuna’s creator, has established a clothing and accessory range for kids that is unique. I asked her where she draws her inspiration from and how Kuna started.
Andrea and Anneke are the team (along with all their other helpers) that make up Paper Cake. Their ranges include afro baroque, afro mosaic, cast ceramic, African earth (clay) and even a metal range. I personally like their handcrafted Location range. You can also commission Papercake for any projects that you have in mind. See some examples below:
>> See more of their ranges and a background profile here…
Contact Anneke and Andrea on the following details:
Mobile: +27 82 340 3889 / +27 82 396 9887
Tel: +27 11 646 6115
Paper Cake’s website: http://www.papercake.co.za/
To be precise, Trees With A Conscience. “Forest debris” from a forestry concession in Mozambique is crafted to create one off pieces like you see below.
When the last tree has been felled, the last fish caught and last river poisoned, only then will we finally realise that we cannot eat money.
You can contact Bianca on the following details: Tel: +27 79 503 0151, Fax: +27 086 633 0580, Email: biancablack@vodamail.co.za or go to the website: http://www.twakwood.co.za/
I set out to Gallagher Estate a few days ago to see what was on offer. I spent a few hours walking around, taking photos and talking to the designers and stand owners. Much of my time though, I must admit, was spent in the SA Handmade Collection section - I’m a sucker for arty crafty stuff. And yes of course I bought a bag as well.
Eastern Cape was well represented, my home province, and I even met Tori Stowe from Bathurst, a very small town close to my own small home town, Port Alfred.
I’ll be posting all photos and info very soon, so watch out for these.
www.decorex.co.za
Nicholas sent me these images of his beautiful work the other day. I didn’t really know which to select to feature so I decided on a few. First up, we have the Hsien panels.
The act of decorating and describing shapes from the subconscious liberates what I now believe are sacred objects. That’s why I’ve called them Hsien objects, panels or shapes.
Any decent painting or sculpture ideally has an otherworldly quality to it, not so? The venerated object, whether it’s a sceptre, an orb, a fetish, relic, tattoo, sportscar, necklace, an ipod, garment or crown of state possesses, projects or wields power often beyond or greater than its physical appearance right? It’s job is to attract, summon, focus or magnify sensations. And it is singly able to transport or relocate your sense of location. In fact, a good Hsien object, shape or pattern to my mind, should relocate or even dislocate the viewer’s whereabouts by sight, touch or both.
And the wonderfully playful Afrobot paintings and ceramics series.
How lucky do I feel? One of my good friends, Cath Paynter, an artist/painter, sent this painting as a Christmas gift.
Ever since I saw it on her site a month ago I’ve been plotting on how I’d get it before it was sold. Unfortunately she told me it had been a week or two thereafter. Oh well…
So imagine my surprise when I opened the package from Postnet to find the quirky leopard painting…
Thanks Cath, you’re the best.
Some days you realise you have been given a gift, a message, directions for a new destination… when a friend mentioned Cyril Coetzee to me when I enquired if she knew of any art teachers in my area (Rivonia Jhb), I had never heard of Cyril Coetzee. On researching him on the net, I was simply blown away by his works - especially his narrative oil paintings.
“Geometry, in general and repeat patterns specifically, (Escher, Alhambra, Nature) have always dominated my creative process. When a friend introduced me to Penrose’s aperiodic tiling seven years ago, I became interested in their visual implications and I have been obsessed by them ever since. The grid I use was constructed with unsophisticated equipment to give it a hand-made, rather than computer-generated look, while strictly adhering to the mathematics of aperiodicity.”
I first saw one of her intricate porcelain plates in a book (Ultimate Guide to Local Design) that I bought a while ago and was captivated by the detail.
www.christinabryer.com or email her at christinabryer@telkomsa.net
