“The long hard voyage took many days. But finally the ship anchored in a river near the King’s palace” 2021 (detail)
I am happy to announce that these two in the detail of the work: “The long hard voyage took many days. But finally the ship anchored in a river near the King’s palace” finally arrived at MContemporary gallery in Australia today!
Instagram story courtesy of the gallery
some of the crew members had to wait patiently while: “Time passed and the hungry vulture ate the beanstalk and it broke. But the child grew to be a beautiful princess.” (see detail of the work below)
“Time passed and the hungry vulture ate the beanstalk and it broke. But the child grew up to be a beautiful princess.’ 2021 (Detail)
Instagram story courtesy of the gallery
Some of the works are destined for the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair later this year….more details to follow.
Instagram story courtesy of the gallery
On that note….wishing you a wonderful week. Keep safe and stay warm – until we speak againxxx
At the end of August 2020 I received an unexpected email from the PR manager of an international brand “Blissbody”, saying: “We came across your Instagram profile “hannalie.t”, and LOVE your style. We’d love to have you as one of our Brand Ambassadors. To celebrate our new Sportivo collection, we want to give you a FREE pair of leggings so you can post a picture of you wearing them and drive more exposure to our brand. Being an Ambassador will also get you commission from the sponsored post(s)! An easy way of making money with Instagram! I’ll leave below some key points:…”
Yours truly wearing Bliss Body leggings with my artwork in the background titled: “Little masochist”.
At first I was very sceptic, because one has to be it feels these days, since news about scams are all over, which makes it very hard to trust people. But I decided to do some research into this brand before making assumptions. I had a thorough look at their Instagram account and their website. Wondering why have they ‘chosen’ me based on my Instagram:
I don’t really have anything in common with their brand, perhaps just ‘yoga’ but I don’t post pictures of myself doing yoga – I’m way to sensitive about my body especially after picking up so much lockdown-weigh AND I stopped smoking- which only makes me want to nibble all the time.
Personally I don’t spend that much on my ‘outfit’ – yes I love wearing leggings underneath my thrift-store dresses, but theirs is quite expensive when translated to Rand.”
But if one day I do decide to become brand conscious, I could get 40% if I agree to become an Ambassador by just paying for the shipping, then take a photo of myself wearing it and post it to Instagram. Sounds easy enough, but the shipping from the UK alone would basically be the price of 2 pairs of leggings from Mr Price in S.A, and I know that I cannot possibly do the same type of photo which normally are associated with their hashtags, but ok…I’m game to see if this is legit. (worst case scenario= I won’t be able to buy 2 pairs of leggings for a while, or best case scenario I could score a pair of possibly very fancy leggings, and it would give me some insight into the life of an ‘ambassador’ – which makes me wonder if it is almost the same as an “influencer”. I mean, how hard can it be?
“Expanding your idea of what an influencer is, is so important,” Sherman said. “Because it’s everyone. It sounds very philosophical, but it’s just so true.”
In the end I did learn from the same article why brands like Blissbody ask people to be ambassadors for their products:
Powell added a quick list of actionable takeaways: Invest in influencer marketing; diversify your brand’s use of social platforms; remember that it’s about creating community; and invest in digital workflow. She believes 2021 will be about relationships: “Healing, mending, moving into the future together,” she said. “See your influencer partners as that.”
After some deliberation with my husband and friends, I did pay the shipping costs. After about 2 months I wrote them and email to say I haven’t received my leggings yet. I received a very quick and courteous reply:
We have checked your account and we saw that your order has been shipped, but we are unable to provide a tracking number because a number of packages are experiencing delayed or missing tracking information at the moment. Your package may take a few more weeks to arrive because the Coronavirus outbreak is slowing down postal services globally. We seek your kind understanding and patience regarding this matter.
Eventually I gave up and haven’t bought any leggings since then but today I received word from the post office that a parcel arrived!
So….Starting the weekend with a new pair of leggings. “Thank you MyBlissBody for sending me these adorable leggings! Get teh for 15% off using my code hannalie.t15”
Would I do it again, you may ask….no I don’t think so.
Well, maaaayyyybbeee…..only if it is for alternative footwear next time;-)
Hannalie Taute in her studio photographed by Kleinjan Groenewald
Hi dear friends. I’m a bit late with my monthly studio news update, because I’ve been on a emotional roller-coaster these past few weeks. I had to try and stay calm because the boys was writing exams, but I just felt uninspired, tired, drained, sad and anxious. Our garden at the moment is a true reflection of where I’m at emotionally….
what happened here!!?the bloody snails are everywhere!
dare I even show you these! Yikes! BUT after I spent Monday afternoon in the garden, with my fingers in the soil and getting rid of some snails, I feel much much better. Gardening as therapy 😉
I also cleaned up the studio and found some old ink drawings I did in 2004 for a solo exhibition at the Joao Ferreira gallery in Cape Town. I allowed myself to feel destructive and playful and so I reworked those drawings:
drawing from 2004 reworked in 2020
I still feel kind of tired, but actually I am grateful, because there was lovely highlights this year too!!!
can you guess which one is the Beyond burger?
A dear collector send us a Spur voucher from abroad, and so we had a chance to finally get a taste of the Beyond Burger. (which according to the Youtube channel my boys watched, taste and look like a real burger, but it is completely plant based.) Just a pity its double the price of a normal burger.
Thanks for the feature RK Contemporary and SA Art Times
I received some lovely magazine exposure abroad and locally.
I had the opportunity to work on some amazing commissions and exhibitions this year too. A big thanks to each and everyone who commented, liked, shared, discussed and bought my work this year. It doesnt go unnoticed and I appreciate it. This was actually my best year in the studio sofar!
But then why….
All I can think is that it is due to a hormonal imbalance:
Its been a while since I wrote to you, but October was a wonderful, intense, creative, and thankfully productive month for me, and I hope for you too?!
I am pleased to announce that I finished the commission which occupied most of my time in the studio. I am really chuffed that I finished it on the time I set aside for it. My self-imposed ‘deadline’ was for the end of October. I allowed myself to focus on it for two months. I need deadlines (but is there not perhaps a better word for it, since deadline sounds so final) ;-P
“You are born, you die, and the rest is just marking time.” (James Joyce)
I had the pleasure of having Kleinjan Groenewald over for a photo shoot yesterday! I will share some photos from this shoot over the next couple of months!
I was also introduced to Ike in October. His owner says that he always smile for the camera:
he was the inspiration for a new “family member” – The Good Boy!
The Good Boy
And he is off to join the rest of the clan in this collectors home:
Other news is that I had to get reading glasses/goggles/spectacles! I was diagnosed with PRESBYOPIA which is just a fancy Greek word meaning: “Old and eye.” “Presbyopia is the name given to the condition of the sight which develops as a natural senile change” (quoted from an encyclopedia) I was so stressed out about my appointment with the Optometrist, but I am glad I went, since now I can enjoy reading again. I am just curious why most of the frames for glasses are made out of plastic! eek! Anyway I am celebrating by reading a book I found in the library: “The secret dairy of Hendrik Groen 83 1/4 Years old”
“Biologically speaking you become superfluous on your fortieth birthday or thereabouts. Since the children are born by then, approaching self sufficiency. That is when slowly but surely the rot starts to set in with hair loss and reading glasses. On a cellular level too things start going wrong. You have more and more errors of division and multiplication. A slowing metabolism leads to a weaker nervous system which also makes the mind to weaken. One thing is clear: “Use it or lose it” from the book …..
I really enjoy spending time with Hendrik Groen. Like him I also “rarely say what i want to say. I tend to choose the path of least confrontation. My specialty: wanting to please everybody.”
In other news:
I painted the wall in my studio a dark grey, in preparation for my next ‘Studio exhibition: The Haunted Stitch” coming soon…watch this space. 😉
I will also be participating an a group show in November…more about this a bit later:
Other news: Feel free to visit the stockroom at MContemporary gallery for some available work, or feel free to send me a message:
What makes a day special? How many special days are in a year? Someone once said that: “Every day is a gift. But some days are packaged better.” Well there seems to be a special day for just about everything these days, because, hey why not?! I am sure you can find a special day for everyday depending on your interests. How about Read in a bathtub day? or Earth day, also Spring Equinox which is tomorrow (is that the actual first day of Spring?), or Heritage day (which is coming up for South Africa on the 24th.) Apparently, according to some sources it is also Batman day today!
Happy Batman day!
If you are looking for more special days to celebrate, then there is a website called ‘daysoftheyear.com. I saw there that today is also “International day of Peace” and “Escapology day”, and on this day in 2025 it will be “World Gratitude day.” But today I am grateful for something else. Today is the anniversary of our Wedding day:
We are celebrating the decision to spend for the past 18 years a LOT of time together.
Quote of the day found on the internet #foklore #oldfarmersalmanac
Do you have a special day/days? I would like to know. But for now I will leave you with:
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it present” ― Master Oogway
