AWESOME ART ROUTE!

THE RACE TO FINISH MY SPACE:

I managed to finish my new exhibition space in the nick of time. Here are some before and after photos of my new extension which has virtually doubled my living space and provided me with a light filled room that will soon be a gallery, showcasing the work of the local artists.

Yay! I'm looking forward to fireside dinners with wonderful friends in my cozy new space. Good things are worth the wait! Roll on winter.....

THE ART ROUTE WEEKEND:

Pre art route coffee and rusks with Joshua and Angela Miles, Philip John and Jannie Uitlander on the Miles'stoep.

Donkey cart ride to the next exhibition....

Visitors streaming in....

 Chats....

THE CREW:
Val Myburgh
My fabulous friend and fellow book illustrator, Val Myburgh joined me as my guest artist. Her bright, quirky, playful paintings greeted everyone who stepped through the front door. Her highly patterned, illustrative style worked well with my 'tattooed' skulls.

Willem Hanekom
Willem Hanekom set up shop on the front stoep. He makes beautiful custom, handmade leather sandals, belts, wallets and so much more. His work is as beautiful as his gentle nature and unbelievable patience. Asana spent hours making jewelery with him and talked his ear off for 2 days solid. He's now officially rated as her new best friend :)

Quentin Green
Quentin Green enthralled visitors (and the rest of the art crew) with his array of musical instruments including didgeridoos, djembes and bows. Even my neighbor, Oom Manie, from the BBos Orkes, popped over to check out the instruments.

and me, Nikki Miles
Here are a few pics of the 'tattooed' skulls that I had on exhibition.

 For me, this was one of the best art routes! Till next time! Thanks to everyone for making it so special.

ART ROUTE 6th and 7th APRIL 2013

SKULLS FOR THE ART ROUTE

Here's a sneak peek at some of the new work that I'm doing for the art route!

ORDER

My dad has the most incredible workshop. You can find anything and everything you need for any project. He throws NOTHING away and is the ultimate up-cycler. Fortunately my folks live close by on a beautiful farm, 10min from my home. My studio has been become a sea of small pieces of magazine clippings which started flowing out into every corner of the house thanks to our new puppy, Marley. So time to get organized and create some order out of the chaos of decoupage. A trip to my dads workshop and a quick rummage around and we unearthed 2 very useful old pin boards. I'm sure one of them dates back to my teenage bedroom! A box of pins and I'm super stoked at my newly organized desk.

New pin board makes finding just the right image easy

Nicely organized.

STUDIO UPDATE: WORK FROM 2012

BACK TO WORK

It’s been a delicious holiday. A great friend spent a glorious 10 days visiting from Copenhagen. It was wonderful to have her and her beautiful boy sharing our lives here in BBos. Morning coffee and long natters on the stoep, baking cupcakes, trips to the beach, swimming in the farm dam, home cooked feasts and the slow pace of a summer holiday.

But holidays are over and it’s back to work. I spent the first part of the week rearranging my house, organizing and tidying. I’m a bit of a procrastinator and it takes me a while to gear up into work mode! So here is a pic of my lovely organized space. A quiet spot to page through some magazines looking for images to decoupage my new project.

Well, one thing lead to another. Snip, snip, where's the glue?

........and here is a pic of what it looks like at the end of a productive, creative day, cutting and pasting!

Sitting room becomes work space

 

Work in progress

 

Horus, AKA Captain Chaos, surveys the mess.

OK, I’m in the zone now and can’t wait to get busy again tomorrow.