the making of “a walk in the park”…

Oh hi! Just taking “a walk in the park” today with a hot-air -balloon 😉

How are you?

Educational Toy (cotton thread, fiber filling and rubber SOLD

I started working on ‘A walk in the park” exhibition in November 2019, after I received an invitation from the Pretoria Art Association to have a small solo in their Black Box area.

detail Educatonal toy

but it was only in January that I started making the ’embroidered rubber balloons” for the show.

At first I was worried that these balloons was looking too much like those whoopee cushions! Do you remember those?

Anyway, I reassured myself that that was just my inner critic talking trying to spoil the fun I was having in the studio….

and then the pandemic happened!

So “A walk in the park” was meant to open on the 29th of May 2020, but with lockdown and everything, the show got postponed until further notice, and eventually the Art Association suggested we open it in September 2020.

Hare-raising thoughts 2019 Cotton thread, fiber filling and rubber SOLD

Postpone it for so long?! What about all the bills to pay? That was indeed a hare-raising thought, and after careful consideration and a talk to one of my dear collectors I decided to host this exhibition myself. Directly from my studio for a change!

Rich Bitch 2020 Cotton thread, fiber filling and rubber SOLD

because I am fortunate and lucky to ‘know’ some rich bitches right! 😉

Just kidding :-p

Rich Bitch detail

But seriously I am blown away by the support and interest in my work and this exhibition so far.

Thank you so much!

and as the saying goes: “Its not over until the fat lady sings”…

Its not over until the fat lady sing ( thread, batting and rubber 2019 SOLD

THANK YOU!

Studio news update

Art portfolio- my work

Dear friends,

I am happy to announce that I will be sending out a link to view my very first studio-digital-exhibition in my next once-a-month-newsletter!

What newsletter you may ask?

Well for a while now I have been using an engine called ‘mailchimp’ to send out news from my studio to a collector’s list that I have build up over the years, thanks to emails I received enquiring about my work via this and other platforms. I try and send only one newsletter – usually from the last week or the first week of a month. That same newsletter might end up published here as well, but usually a week or so after the original goes out, and sometimes edited.

That gives my trusty collectors the latest news first 😉

You might also notice that sometimes the content/photos published here are the same as on Instagram or Twitter too…but hey, different strokes for different folks…..

I’m learning as I go…which reminds me that I have to learn how to create a ‘landing page’ for my newsletters. Just a way of trying to keep it simple when balancing studio with professional and personal life. Thanks for your patience.

What I enjoy about the mailchimp newsletters is that since it’s private I often get a response directly from you! and it was in during an email conversation after one newsletter that my collector planted the seed for my very own ‘studio-digital-exhibtion’. – Which I will tell you more about it in the next few weeks

What I like about using this blog is that it serves as an extension of my ‘headquaters.’ Sometimes it is playful, sometimes it is serious or sometimes even short and to the point. It is a trusted, easy to manage website. From this point I send out my posts to Twitter and Linkedin.

What I like about Instagram is that it host some amazing communities of artists, artlovers, embroiderers, and friends. It is quick, easy to access while on the go. It is global. Its like a mini website for me.

I do not make use of Facebook.

For now this is how I manage my online prescence until the ‘artworld figures out how to present itself like the VR experiences on Playstation etc. for example Fortnite 😉 Wouldn’t that be fun??!

so my dear friends, if you’d like to receive my ‘once-a-month-studio-newsletter’, please pop me an email, alternatively I will see you here x

Studio news June 2020

Art portfolio- my work, Studio news

I find peace and solace in the studio when the world is in turmoil. It feels overwhelming just listening to the news, from a locust plague in India, to protests in America and strange “lockdown” regulations in South Africa.

Studio corner

As you know South Africa adjusted the “lockdown” regulations to level 3 from the 1st of June, but I’m still not sure when my solo “A walk in the park” which was meant to open at the end of May at the Arts Association in Pretoria will open, but as soon as I know something I will let you know. In the meantime here are some studio views….

studio installation view

In other studio news….. I would like to say it with flowers:

A dangerous bunch 75 x 71 cm Cotton thread and rubber 2019 at MContemporary gallery

Do(nt) 112 x 85 cm Cotton thread and rubber 2019 2020 at MContemporary gallery

Neighbourhood watch 85 x 75 cm Cotton thread and rubber 2020 at Everard Read Franschoek

Shit “Could be” a lot worse 81 x 71 cm Cotton thread and rubber 2020 at Everard Read Franschoek.

On that note…

Keep safe, and healthy.

until pigs can fly

xxx

May…..another day 2020

Art portfolio- my work

1 May 2020: Lockdown level 4 and it is Worker’s day in South Africa.

So let’s say it with flowers 😉

Hashtag WTF 1000 x 600 mm Cotton thread and rubber (2019) Hannalie Taute

because…

“There is a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out

But I’m too tough for him

I say, stay in there

I’m not going to let anybody see you

There is a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out…”

-Charles Bukowski-

Normal?

Art portfolio- my work

During this “lockdown” I keep on hearing the words:

“When things get back to normal”

At one stage these words also made me cry, because what is ‘normal’?

work in progress

“I don’t know what normal means anyway.” – Karl Lagerfeld

“Normality is a paved road. It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.” Vincent van Gogh

“Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos to the fly.” Morticia Addams

What does the word “normal” mean to you?

I know that playing pretend is not a solution to how to cope with reality, it is the only way I know how until I figure how to think outside of the box, or rather think like there was no box to begin with….because who knows what the future will hold.

“When the world says, “give up”, Hope whispers, “Try it one more time.” You have more potential than you believe you do. Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.”

Dr Seuss