Category: Articles

GRAFFITI OR MURAL ART?

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The word graffiti has its origins in both Greek and Italian. Graphein is Greek for “scratch”, “carve” or “write” while graffiato in Italian means “scratched”. Although there have been different forms of graffiti (before it…

MULTIPLE TECHNIQUES, SINGULAR BEAUTY

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Stripes, layers, stacked textures … these striking sculptures by different artists appear to use the same techniques but in fact they’re highly divergent. For one there’s Japanese-American artist Jun Kaneko’s six-foot-tall head sculpture,…

OUR SHOES WILL LEAD US

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What COVID-19 has done to all of us, with no discrimination whatsoever since every single one of us is feeling it, no exceptions, is create a loss of any sense of direction. The virus has put us in a holding pattern, particularly with the second…

PARADYS (KLOOF) THROUGH THE EYES OF DYLAN LEWIS

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Overwhelming. Awesome. World class. These are all words that describe South African sculptor Dylan Lewis’s sculpture garden on Mulberry Farm in Paradyskloof (a very apt name, that!), Stellenbosch. The artist started the garden himself way…

FOTO FOCUS: GREAT TIPS FOR CELL PHONE PICS

USE GRIDLINES TO BALANCE YOUR SHOT Turn on the camera’s gridlines to superimpose a series of lines on the screen of your smartphone’s camera that are based on the “rule of thirds” – a composition principle that says an image should…

A DIFFERENT FACE OF PICASSO

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I have been fortunate, during the course of our travels, to have seen many different exhibitions of Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous and influential artists of the 20th century. During a fairly recent trip to Berlin (before we’d even…

FOTO FOCUS – PICTURE EDITING

Most of the photos we take can be improved in some way, no matter how skillful the photographer. Computer programs and cellphone photo editing apps vary from very basic free editors to advanced programs like Photoshop or ON1 with both mobile…

HOMELESS DURING LOCKDOWN

Sleeping rough presents one of the biggest challenges of survival as a human being. It does not happen overnight and is usually a process triggered by unexpected events and bad choices. Slowly you start sinking into a hole without realising…

MAPUNGUBWE – DIE “HEUWEL VAN DIE JAKKALS”

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Wintertyd is Bosveld-tyd met die lang pad Noorde toe. Daar waar die hardekoolvuurtjie jou vleisie beslis anders laat smaak. Mapungubwe Nasionale Park, digby Musina, wag ons (normaalweg) gereeld in wintertyd ruimhartig met erfenis, skoonheid…

THE ART OF CERAMICS

Earlier this year (when we lived a different life, we travelled to distant lands, and the word COVID-19 had hardly found a place in the world’s vocabulary), I was in the middle of a snow blizzard in Toronto, Canada. It was the perfect day…

CHALK ADVENTURES

People have found many fantastic ways in which to engage creatively during lockdown. Abbey Burns Tucker from Atlanta in Georgia, for example, started a series of photos on her Facebook page showcasing a variety of playful situations where her…

BESONDERSE BESOEK, BESONDERSE LAND

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Ons almal soek ontvlugting gedurende grendeltyd. Dit is ’n heerlike, nostalgiese tydverdryf om na ou foto’s te kyk en weer na te dink aan iets buitengewoons wat jy ervaar het. In my geval was dit my twee besoeke aan Iran. Die meeste mense…