Don’t miss the forthcoming exhibition by award-winning artist and illustrator, Rosalind Stockhall, who will present a selection of her enchanting collage illustrations from the recently launched children’s book, Rondomtalie.

The brainchild of compiler and well-known children’s theatre luminary, Marinda Engelbrecht, Rondomtalie – Stories deur Afrikaanse Kunstenaars is a delightful collection of original children’s stories written by leading Afrikaans names in the performing arts industry, such as Zanne Stapelberg, Neels van Jaarsveld and Jak de Priester and it is published by Human & Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers.

The exhibition will take place at the Hout Street Gallery in Paarl from 23 September to 3 October, coinciding with the popular annual Cultivaria festival, making Paarl a festive place to be. From 12- 2pm on Saturday 25 September, there will also be a special reading by the celebrity authors Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck, Anna Davel and Marion Holm.

See Invitation.

270 Main Street, Paarl
Telephone: +27 (0) 21 872 5030
Fax: +27 (0) 21 872 7133

E-mail: zetler@icon.co.za
Web: www.houtstreetgallery.co.za

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the start of our 35th Summer Salon, which was opened by acclaimed ceramist Ralph Johnson who has exhibited his work with us since he moved to Cape Town many years ago. As always, the Summer Salon presents a wide selection of works by South African artists and runs until 31 January 2011.

Visit our website for the full list of participating artists: www.houtstreetgallery.co.za

For those of you who couldn’t quite hear Ralph’s entire speech because the room was so full, or who were unable to join us, here is a copy of it. It was a great way to help us celebrate our 35th birthday!

Thanks for your support this year and wishing you a happy festive season and all the best for 2011. David

Regards
David

“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen.
I would like to thank Gail and David for giving me the honour of opening this Summer Salon. Every exhibition opening is a celebration, for the artists, the art and also the curators, who are inspired to gather together a plethora of art works  which they enjoy having in their gallery and hopefully will inspire the audience to want to own something special. Tonight we also celebrate several anniversaries and an important one is that this is the 35th anniversary of the Hout Street Gallery. This tells us how devoted Gail and David are to art. This family lives with their art, their home is their gallery and the gallery is their home. We are fortunate that despite the vagaries of our economic and political  landscape, David and Gail have remained consistent in their vision of what the gallery should be:  a  Family run gallery, promoting and marketing local art and encouraging new and young artists to exhibit, which invites one to browse leisurely, is unintimidating and without any form of hard sell pressure.

 Another anniversary to celebrate is that this year is 25 years since I first met Gail and David who made my transition to this part of the world less lonely. They were my first friends and their hospitality and loyalty has never changed. My first public exhibition was in this gallery. As a lecturer in ceramics it was encouraging to have my work and those of my students shown in this space. As a potter I am grateful that David and Gail have always included ceramics in their exhibitions. Often ceramics is seen as the poor cousin to Fine Art , however here ceramics is given equal prominence and careful consideration.

This year is also the anniversaries of a very personal nature for both Gail and David. Although one never asks a lady her age nor a gentleman the size of his bank balance, I have been told by Gail to tell you that this year she is 65 and that David is 70. I am sure I speak for all of us when I wish them many more years of happiness surrounded by their family, friends and art. May you continue to enrich our lives for many more years as you have done with this  year’s 35th Summer Salon.

It gives me great pleasure to declare this exhibition open.” Ralph Johnson

In conversation with the Franschhoek-based artist:

"My imagination takes over when I paint. I see images in my mind and enhance them on canvas, for the spectator to recognise and hopefully understand. I work with a spatula and brush, turning the paper or canvas for a whole day, until I capture a point of view I want to proceed with."

So relates Johannes du Plessis, who started his art career by studying sculpture privately under Maureen Quin in 1982 while he was still at school.  Johannes studied art and design at the University of Potchefstroom and at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth,majoring  in  sculpture and drawing.  Here he studied under Phil Kolbe, Hillary Graham, Hilton Nel and also took a course in etching by Alexander Podlashuc.

With such a firm foundation and with such well-known and diverse teachers, it is no surprise that du Plessis has become a successful artist and that his work is highly sought-after.

"My professor in painting class once asked, while we were examining a still life (vase with dusty old plastic flowers), ..... ‘Why are you painting a landscape?’. I replied that I feel confident in painting a landscape, since I grew up in the Karoo and learned a lot from nature, so I was encouraged in this aspect. ‘Carry on he said, you are one of the few lucky people who has the natural ability to paint intuitively’ ."

After the Rugby World Cup in 1995, Johannes travelled down memory lane to the Eastern Cape, visiting the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, and was greatly influenced by the freedom of expression in painting. "I drove past our family farm, and saw and recognised elements and memories of my childhood, and I also travelled through the Valley of Desolation. Back in Cape Town I took up Acrylic paint instead of oils, and, while doodling idly away, discovered the scratch technique quite spontaneously. This developed by itself into the mature style I have now developed," he says.

"I enjoy the challenge of new mediums and have developed an oriental technique in monochromes on paper, a flow of pigment on the surface. Different mediums on paper influence and challenge my diversity and ability for expressionism. On canvas I only use the best quality paint called Lascaux, which is Swiss made, utilising the scratch technique."

Johannes says he is inspired by Paul Gauguin‘s quote: ‘ Art is an abstraction, extract from nature while dreaming before it, and concentrate more on creating than on the final result.’

"I paint what I feel and what I want. To paint is a passion. By being honest towards my mind experiences and heart is how I attempt to find new level in artistic realisation. Painting is a process of getting to know myself better, a way of finding new spirits and understanding of life in various forms. "

" In the end, it is an introduction to self-enlightenment. I prefer to call my paintings emotional statements. My wish is that the audiences could feel these statements deep within themselves," he says.