Art Times at The Studio 4

Thank you

for joining us in sharing some of our art news for the last term of Art with The Studio. 

Here are some of the amazing works of art from term 3 and 4 . 

The children come from many different communities and range from four to 16 years of age. 

These beautiful patterns below grew out of our discussion of Basotho Blankets.  

Below are 

some of the works of art from the family art group. 

 

Welcome to the 4th art news for this year. This has been a beatiful year of Art at The Studio and I will share some of the highlights with you all. 

I will begin with our annual art exhibition. 

This October, despite the wind that Cape Town often offers up, we shared some gfreat snacks and enjoyed our works of art. Below are some of the works from the day. 

One of the things I love about children's art exhibition, is that we get to share  the works we have created with one another. Someone said something to me resently which made me feel quite sad. " This is only childrens art". while I understand why the person said this, I felt that this parent had missed something of the profoundity of a child drawing or painting what I term , " real art". This is not craft , although sometimes there is an element of craft, but what I offer for art is a real, athentic space for children to begin the journey of observational art learning inclusing some theory and art history. This space is the very beginning or a journey where art engages with life. 

Our art exhibition shares osmething of this philosophy. Anyone and everyone can be an artist. 

During the October break, my family and I traveled to the town of Nieu Bethesda in The Karroo, near Graaf Reinett. The main purpose of this family holiday, was to visit the famous Helen Martin's Owl House. The Owl House is the centre of the community of Nieu Bethesda and has more fet through its small doors than our National Gallery. People travel from all over the world to witness the beautiful work of Helen, Koos Malgas and The Owl House. 

It did not disappoint. 

Here are a few of my photographs. 

 I have shared two photos that capture bothe the light and the love of The Owl House. It was a truly mystical and grateful experience. 

I would like to share a little about the making of the delightful bird sculptures from the exhibition. These artworks grew out of our exploration of The Owl House and the work of Helen and Koos. They were indeed a personal labour of love and patience and each child gave of their all to create these wonders. 

Art during the holidays - What can you do this holiday? 

There are so many wonderful art exhibitions and spaces in all of our cities in South Africa. From a small town like Nieu Bethesda to any of our large cities, many artists share their work. A few weekends ago Kirstenhof held their very first community market where many people exhibited their works. - as an example. 

The Norval in Tokai is always a must for a visit. The garden with all the sculptures by well known artists is a firm favourite. Take a small snack and enjoy this space with many shady trees. Maggie Laubser is still on show with her mesmerizing portraits and a lovley timeline of work on exhibit. 

Zeitz at The Waterfront is free for SA citizens on Wednesday mornings.There is an amazing exhibition of political resistance art from South Africa and many other parts of the world. It is extremely powerful. Not for children under the age of  12/13.

Galleries are also a wonderful space to pop into. The big galleries like Southern Guild, Blanc, A4 and Goodman etc are place on e can visit for free. Just check the internet for details. 

The National Gallery - this is a firm favourite of mine. It holds a beautiful collection of South African artists as well as artists from the world. The childrens gallery is bright , welcomming, with paintings at a lower level and bean bags to lie on. 

I end on this note. Thank you. Thank you for sharing in the exhibition . Thank you for encouraging your children in their artist journey.  To all those grade 7 children who begin a new year at a new school, go for it. Make new friends and keep on drawing. A reminder I have an art class for teens on a Friday afternoon. 

Have a peaceful, restful holiday time . I look forward to spending time with my family, new "family" and my 82 year old mom who is visiting us from Johannesburg. 

I look forward to see you next year. 

in art

Caren