Le' Stop - Woza ART

From car rides with famous artists to doing art with friends.

Our car trip with Mimi van der Merwe where we learnt how to le'stop from Belgium to Paris.

Firstly a heartfelt thank you 🙏 to everyone that has made Woza ART a thing!

In this blog post I'd just like to give a recap on the fantastic things that have occurred over the last couple of months.

If you've ever met me you'll know I have a couple of projects all running in coordination with each other. Often overlapping. Sometimes however projects are not always as successful as I'd like them to be. Well not instantly at least.

How I met Mimi van der Merwe:

Well to describe this I'd have to start with how I started living. For about a decade I decided to avoid art, because of the horror stories that I'd heard from people who were not even artists.

Stories of how art did not have a place in this modern world. That art was a tough career choice. Also if art was not your career, then you should not even bother yourself with any hope of achieving the great divine. Of course most of this was nonsense. I now understand why people told me this. Art is liberating.

Yes I agree. What will you achieve. For me art is not a goal. I don't have a competition to win. I don't have formula to be a successful artist who will make millions. In fact I don't even know what next month will bring.

There is one thing I do know. When I wake up tomorrow. I will still want to make art. I might not make a masterpiece. But I will learn something new. I will look at the world differently and ask new questions. I will make friends interested in the same things as me. So after a story for another blog post. I ended up at Johann van Heerden's Art Gallery in Garsfontein. I cannot even remember going there my first time, because I've just been there too many times now. It is hard to keep track. I felt at ease. I felt calm and I wanted to know more about the art on the wall.

The art on the wall was by Mimi van der Merwe, who at the time was 88 years old and has since then passed 90 years of age. She is a local hero in Pretoria.

Besides the painting below she had created many artworks on paper she had made herself.

I had to know more

And so my journey into art appreciation started...

A portrait of someone from Hermanus by Mimi van der Merwe. We thought it was a self portrait until she told us otherwise.

How I learnt that you can make your own paper:

Arriving at Mimi's house. Thanks to Miekie, the gallerist at JVH. I managed to go and visit Mimi. And honestly her house was an extension of her life. It reminded me so much of my late uncle's house. Where every corner had an experiment. With a beautiful garden and an explosion of art. And as Mimi would have it, we dove straight into experimenting with how to make paper. After all her experience of hand made paper she told me this:

I cannot remember how to make paper it was more than 20 years ago. I just remember boiling elephant dung for a few hours which really smelt very bad.

And so the journey and friendship grew and began. I did later get help from Tony (a friend of the famous now extinct coffee shop, The Bean Box) to help find elephant dung for me.

A post card of paper made from elephant dung.

I now stand here after many many failed experiments. Giving up many times. Getting disheartened from failure. Spending money on equipment and not much success. I stand here today, with experience. With friendships and hope. I made 16 identical pieces of paper this week. And now I know how to replicate the process much more easily.

Besides the paper (A plethora of friendships):

So now that the bug has bitten. I am running out space from art. I have too little room for the art. (You cannot be crazy and say you have too much art!) But during the past couple of weeks. I bought an artwork of a newfound friend. Whose acrylic painting of the lilies was made at art party and exhibited at WHPS Arts Alive

We really have the best friends and we cannot thank you enough.

The journey continues:

Lastly we were on a tour at Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg today. I cannot imagine myself as a tourist in Johannesburg. But it was fun to pretend to be one. My challenge to you this week is to experience a new adventure. Like drinking coconut water on the side of a street. Or eating sweets on a leaf which tastes like perfume. Honestly the sweet leaf thing was surprising. I honestly didn't even notice the small stall on the street corner which looked like it was selling cigarettes and small trinkets. Only to be pleasantly surprised by a treat that helps digest your food and give you a fresh breath. Thank you to Eenblond Tours for this amazing experience.

Anyway. Go out there and attempt to make art that might even fail. You never know.