I had met Lionel Mulcott today when I dropped off my CV
(as I called it Artists Info..) that was needed to accompany my creations for
the exhibition. When he opened the door I knew straight away who he was, the
man who had invited me to be a part of the exhibition. He looked like an Artist,
well aged with a long grey beard. He had a gentle voice, gentle smile and wore
glasses. Hippy looking a lot like me – I already like this man J. After I introduced
myself I had asked him to see his art work he will be putting up for display
for the exhibition, and just like me his subject matter seen to have been of
everyday life, his son listening to his music with earphones and one very beautiful
self portrait done with acrylic. I also got to meet another artist that will be
displaying her work, Wanita – she does the most amazing collages with paint,
textiles and pencil. She cuts out the pictures and then she mounts them between
2 pieces of glass with little clamps on the side, I cannot wait t show these to
my friends and family that will be joining me on the opening night, something
unusual and very pleasing to the eye.
I contacted my Hindi brother Bevan to let him know my web
page was up and running (Laarnie AKA –SNOOT
and from here-on out I will refer to my young boet as that: SNOOT) still needs
to upload the photographs of my creations, so is my blog and my Facebook Page. I now need
him and
My-Lanie to start work on my Google Adwords. I could not
have asked anyone better to help me out with this. The Google master and her
sidekick who is also known as Bevan EQ behind the decks.
Bevan& me rocking the OMD Agency of the Year Pa-ty
Bevan has mixed some awesome sets over the past few years
that we have worked close together I have heard every single one of them and
this boy deserves to have his dream come true. Playing for a crowd of a few
thousand having them move to every beat that he creates. In the near future I
will help my brother live that dream. With all this living laughing and
creativeness flowing through me it has rubbed off on the brew master and it
seems like soon we will be throwing a big party, Bevan EQ will future as one of
the DJ’s for sure! Another possible two DJ’s if they are keen, one of those I
know am will also join. Terry Shaman (Skateboarder of note, see the little boys
going on about that old toppie on his deck), who also had won a 4th
place at the Maloof cup in Kimberley this year in the amateur performance – Well done
CAVEMAN! And DJ Pat (Patrick Opperman) who was introduced to me by Terry, Terry
said Patrick had taught him how to mix decks. I have for many years not heard
such quality beats be dropped by anyone.
Patrick
Terry AKA - Caveman
Whilst I am on the subject of music our Lucian have also
promised us a night with his decks. He plays we dance... I have for the first
time the other night got the beat, it was amazing... Music, wow, wow, wow!! In the past years I have met a handful of
people that seemed to get more ( a deeper meaning to music) than I had, I have
seen this on the dance floor, but I have never questioned people about this. One
night not so long ago I got it, dancing has always been one of my favorite
things to do, even when it comes to cleaning house. Now I dance, with no
effort, the music flows through me and I don’t think I will ever get tired of
doing it. Best of all is I found someone
that I can only hope will dance with me just like that until the end of time.
To get back to DIE ANTWOORD skull, I had seen a
particular skull at the Taxidermist; it was of some kind of goat, 4 horns. Evil
looking and it cost quite a bit of moola. So the idea was that I was going to
buy that skull then design and paint it and then I was going to contact DIE
ANTWOORD and give it to them as a Christmas gift. I painted that skull in a week that was to put
it simple emotionally draining. Hospitals – Helen Joseph, I have already
instructed people that if ever I need help rather kill me than take me to that
place! I could also go in to detail on this, but decided to rather just send my
complaint to the head of that gadamn institution instead. I will post the
letter to my blog once I have gotten around to-do so.
I had been closely inspecting one of the skulls Mark from
Empire Tattoo gave me, I have not told him yet, but for the greater good of mankind
and my art creation I am about to come up with I am now using the most evil
looking thing I could have imagined – thank you Mark ;) This skull reminds me
of those disfigured faces they have on one of their music video's
So with the way the week went I had a lot of inspiration
and the right emotional mind sent not only to create a mind blowing skull
design but to find myself once again completely lost in time and space of my
own mind. At times I am painting for hours not eating drinking or smoking not
realising how much time has actually past. But I continue to work almost
non-stop until I have achieved greatness and then sit back and marvel about
what I have created. DIE ANTWOORD skull is a piece that I don’t particular
feel like selling, but knowing myself I will end up with many of those and if I
want to achieve greatness I must let my skulls go, plus I have this dream that
I could maybe even reach them to come and buy this creation I made them for
themselves. The owners who invest in my skulls creations will have chosen them
for their own particular reason and it will become something very special to
them as it is for me.
Another very exciting piece of news have reached me, I
have set aside time every week to send out emails. I target a few shops,
galleries and events by going on Google and searching for them, accessing
websites and seeing what they sell or specialise in. On one occasion Alex and I took a drive out
to Parkhurst and I had written down the names of a couple of places in Parkhurst
I could contact to see if anyone would be interested in doing some kind of
business with me. One of these places I had contacted was The Gallery on 6th,
Parkhurst. I had called ahead the week before and I spoke to Anthony that works
for the gallery, it was one of the first phone calls I made. I was greeted by a
very sincerely and helpful gentleman in deed he had given me all the
information I needed in order to make contact with the right people and he went
as far as to say I should send my email not only to another contact but to him
personally and he would then print it and give it to the Artists that makes up
the Gallery to have a look at. Thank you Anthony! Because of you I have been
invited to join an exhibition of artists at The Gallery on 6th this
coming Friday 1 November, and it will be running until 22 November. My first exhibition, wow....
After I read the invite to exhibit, I read it again and
again – this is what I have been hoping for, this is what I had set out to do.
If you put it out there it will happen, another philosophy of a great mind. Then
keep on believing, it will happen. And so it did. Here I am six weeks into my
dream, my adventure, and I have accomplished what other Artists work for, for
many years, most of them achieving even this. I am so thankful that Lionel
Murcott had seen my work, and he gets me, gets what I do and together with some
other “clubbers” as they call themselves have given me the opportunity to show
people in the art world what I do. Big night is around the corner, my art work
has been submitted my pride and joy out of all of them DIE ANTWOORD skull will definitely
be one of my works chosen to be on display. After viewing another few Artists
work whilst I was at the Gallery I think about another person I have met –
Kevin Love, famous graffiti artists and all round say it as it is does not give
a shit bra. Kevin Love is definitely someone to keep an eye on he always comes
up with amazing art work. I have seen him in action and I was amazed by his
talent. Also if you keep an eye on his Facebook you will see that he not only graffiti’s,
but he is an all round Artist also creating some unusual excellent art pieces.
I have requested that Mr. Cooper send me the photographs
of DIE ANTWOORD skull ASAP. I would like
to post it on their Facebook Page and send out email to their possible contact
emails I think might be able to reach them on. I know I can definitely reach
them through the WAT KYK JY Blog, but I have already received an email back
from Griffin to say they are in the States, and they are going to have a braai
off with the Americans (Only back on 3 November :/)...
Best South African Blog EVER! WAT KYK JY??
Even though the timing is bad for me, I wish them luck
and hope they kick some ass. I don’t particular like braaivleis too much, but
BBQ is for pissies. I have seen how the Scottish (but I do presume every other
European country as well) BBQ and throwing some sausages you get at the
supermarket that is meant for pan frying on a grill and coals is the silliest
thing I have ever seen. So now I have one way of getting through to them and
that is on Facebook. Not only will they get to see this skull, a lot of their
fans will too and I betcha a hell of a lot of them are in and around Johannesburg.
I am sending DIE ANTWOORD an invite to go to this exhibition and purchase this
creation of mine. Again putting it out there... It will come, if not now and
not the way I expected, I can know with reassurance that sometime in the near
future it will happens as it should.
I have had a great offer today from Alex, why not set up
Shongololo Studio at The Home Brew Shop? There is more than enough space, and
it is like my second home by now. The offer is also given to my Laarnie to open
his Tattoo Studio. Alex owns two shops that have been made into one kick ass
big shop. I can work very easily from just about anywhere, I love the shop, I
love the feel and look of it, even the yeast and beer smell attracts me for
some odd reason. Sixty three years this shop has been situated at this same
place. Aunty Liz is just about to retire
completely and I have already offered to be back up. So not only will I be an
artist, but in my other free time I get to learn the magic of brewing, cheese
making and maybe one day I will even attend the wine making. I am completely in
my seventh heaven. I no longer work, I have started living. Alex and I don’t
see what we do as working, because both of us enjoy what we do. He has himself
given up being an architect a couple of years ago to take up his passion of
brewing. He has never looked back since, doesn’t miss the expensive cars and
house. At the end of the day it just brings more responsibilities and worries –
makes complete sense to me...
I have been working very hard producing art work, Alex
had two customers come in to the shop in the last that had bought a skull
creation. One of the skulls was sold even before I had finished it! I am
excited to see that people love what I create and I know sooner or later this
idea and business of mine will flourish. In between I keep on trying to make as
many contacts as I can sending out emails, making phone calls, trying to set up
as much meetings as I possibly can. I also started to apply for exhibitions
stands at certain exhibitions that will be taking place in 2014. I have had a
response from The Home Makers Expo. Vanessa has asked me to send through more
photographs of what I do and she said she would organise me a stand at the home
decor section. Exciting news indeed! I have started checking out blogs for
interior decorating and designers and have gone ahead and send out some emails
to them too, in order to try and get myself future on their blogs for even more
exposure. A day after sending out my email was contacted by Marica (must be the English version of myself) from The
Design Tabloid and they will be featuring me on their blog in about two weeks
time! The news is getting better by the day. The pictures I have however sent
to The Design Tabloid is not of good quality for online purposes and I was
asked if possible to also rather send them my creations photographed on a white
background. Once again I think about who could possibly do this for me, one
person comes to Mind Mr. Cooper!
Circus
Mr Cooper is an English bloke, apparently a metal head by
night ;) he has his own little photography studio going, Mr Cooper would
however like specialise in taking photographs of local bands in action, but he
needs the contacts for the bands and up until a month ago I could have been
able to maybe assist, but then Bob happened (as far as I know he has been
admitted to Tara I am more than just delighted by this news this means I won’t be
getting another 1600 sms’s over the next 10 days) And to top that off that Tony
Two Fingers came around and wanted me and Alex to hang and we did and then
ended up at Tony’s workplace and we decided we are not going back to that joint
again! Long story and a tale for another blog all together, point is the
possible info is there maybe I can Google and find some contacts. Mr Cooper’s
As per his FB Page he is the CEO of Cooper Co
Photography, he spends his free time coming for tatts at Laarnie Tattoo’s and
picking up chicks. He is single as far as I know so ladies, please go ahead and
send Richard D Cooper (search on Facebook) your details he will wine and dine
you. But on a serious note thanks to Laarnie (again) and Mr Cooper for organising
a product shoot for me even though my idea of an awakening before I was u and
ready wasn’t part of my plan.
AKA - Fred
One of my ideas I have had when I started brainstorming
different designs and themes for skulls was to do a skull especially of DIE
ANTWOORD. By far my favourite SA music group! I get them, they are the rawness
of the South-African like never seen before. They say it as it is, their lyrics
speak of everyday life with no holding back. And then they go ahead and curse a
whole lot in Afrikaans, I am sure we are all in agreement that no other
language can be so expressive in curse words. They come from the Cape Flats
much like “DIE KAS” we have here in Jozi they don’t give forward who they are
not and they live their dream on their own terms.
DIE ANWOORD
DIE ANTWOORD
DIE ANTWOORD
I myself didn’t grow
up rich, or in a rich neighbourhood. On previous occasions I was insulted by
people and had them referring to me as white trash from Roodepoort, people don’t
get it. I don’t care... Roodepoort is my roots, I have been born and bred and I
am not ashamed of who I am and where I come from. I am a rough gem always have
been always will be. My eldest boet Willem had given me a awesome shirt once,
on it was printed Trailer Park Trash.... I loved that shirt dearly, my now ex
in laws didn’t like it too much (this was about 12 years ago) and when I became
pregnant with my first born I used to wear that shirt with my boep showing,
needless to say people were rolling in their graves before they were even dead!
And so my once very cool Traylor Park Trash shirt disappeared L, I still to this day
can only speculate the culprit who had kindly donate it to pick it up.
Tracy is currently finishing her third year Brand Management
Degree and before she left the company to start her full time studies at VEGA I
told Tracy that one day when she became rich and successful she owes me a
holiday on an exotic beach. Tracy of course said she would and I do believe
that if the time came she would have done so, but it dawned on me whilst
thinking about my business plan that Tracy could possibly help me with this so
I gave her a call. In the notes I had made on my weekend to Fouriesburg I had
written down that I needed to access sources and services possible for free or
for as little cost as possible. I had no way of funding this dream of mine, but
still I still have no doubt that I can pull this off be networking and using
connections as I go along. Tracy had done business plans as part of her studies,
but more important, she knew a lot about brand management and she would be
willing to help me I knew this for sure. So I called Tracy, she listened to my
idea and said she would come around at the end of the week to come meet me at
my mom’s house and get the full details.
As promised Tracy came around and listened very
attentively to my grand idea and had a look at my actual creations I have made
thus far and she was very excited. Tracy spent three hours with me and she left
my house saying she would start working on my business plan as soon as she can.
I had made notes on research I wanted to do, but it had dawned on me the past
few days that it takes a good couple of hours to complete one of my creations
to my satisfaction, in between I still had to try and establish business to
keep myself going in Johannesburg and I realised that I might not have enough
time to do the actual research I wanted to do, but when Tracy left she had told
me that this information would form part of my business plan and she would do
it for me, bless her sexy heart ;)
I had Google’ d around a bit to try and find some unique
shops that would maybe be interested in buying some of my creations and had
made contact with Des, the owner of the Hadeda shop in Parkwood. Des had asked
me to come see her on the following Monday, which I did. The Hadeda shop must
be one of the coolest shops in Jozi, a Mexican shop selling all candy skull
items and much more. Des loved my creations, but unfortunately this is not what
they were looking for to purchase. Des had told me to go straight to The Local
Grill which is an upmarket restaurant situated in Parktown North to speak to
the owners and see if I could possibly leave one skull for them to hang in the
restaurant, like other artist and then see if some of their clients would maybe
be interested in purchasing the skull. The owners Poppie and Steve were very
friendly, and they had agreed to hang not just one of my skull creations, but
also the jaw bone I had painted. I would leave it there for two weeks and then
go back to speak to them to see if there was any interests from their clients
regarding my skull creations.
After leaving The Local Grill I head off to Greenside to
see an old friend of mine, Mark from Emerald Rain Tattoo’s. Over lunch I tell
mark about my ideas and how far I have come making connections and establishing
more business, and Mark gives me two skulls that usually hang in his Tattoo
shop to paint as well. From their I head off to Rustic Roots in Ferndale to
another friend and shop owner Allie to ask him if I could possibly leave one of
my skulls there for a week to see if anyone is showing any interest to purchase
it. After catching up with Allie I head off to The Home Brew Shop in Emmarentia
to visit the owner my friend Alex, until now Alex has been my biggest supporter
not only because he loves my art, but he lives by the rule that one should not
have a job, but you should do what you enjoy, he was very happy for me making
the decision of opening Shongololo Studio. He has called me almost every day to
find out how I am and how things are going with my new business and always
encourages me to keep on believing in myself. As always he was very happy to
hear of my progress. I absolutely love the home Brew Shop, it is much more than
just a brewing shop it is a home to many friends that often come around to
visit Alex to have a home brewed beer, maybe come around for a game of darts or
just sit around for a few minutes to hang out with like-minded people in the
awesome lounge. The rest of the week was I decide to spend as much time as
possible and create more animal sugar skulls.
The ultimate dream I have will be to approach other
independent artist such as myself and get them on board my ultimate dream and
in return we will influence more South Africans. I want to approach big
companies to sponsor such artists to go and teach their skills to anyone in any
community all over South Africa. The sponsor would only need to sponsor the
running cost of such training interventions. If we can then get studios running
in these particular communities we could then have the people help us create
what we need to supply in that region. We could either sell their creations on their
behalf or we could negotiate a price, buy it from them and then re-sell it to
interested partners. This ultimate dream may take years to achieve, but I am
confident this can be done.
As for my immediate situation I need to establish some
business in Johannesburg. I have thus far come up with a great idea, but I am
not exactly too clued up when it com
es to brand building and creating a
business plan. This is where my very beautiful and brainy friend Tracy comes
in. Tracy and I have known each other for more or less five years. I met Tracy
when she started working for our then HR Manager at OMD Media Direction. At
that particular time I was employed as a Training and Development Co-ordinator
for the three companies in South Africa. My duties included assisting students
interested in applying for bursaries through the company. The FD Gary Westwater
has always been passionate about helping people especially when it comes to
helping young adults get the education they need to reach their goals and
dreams. Tracy like any other applicant had to produce her final academic result
and apply for the bursary. Her results were immaculate and so she was awarded a
bursary that would be reviewed year upon year.
The very pretty and witty Tracy Faulmann :):):):):):)
I decided to hit the road to Clarens early that Saturday
morning the weather was perfect and the drive would not be very long. I have
never been employed in a sales position, and I have never before thought myself
to be a sales person, but in order for me to establish some business I knew I
had to go out and see if I could manage to sell some of my skulls. I have always
been very confident, and I believe in my dream so much that I did not feel
nervous at all, I approached people and ask them if they would be interested in
purchasing some of my art work. Upon my arrival I was amazed by the beauty of
this village, and I couldn’t believe how many shops were situated there. I
decided to first have some breakfast, and had settled myself down at a little restaurant.
The staff was very friendly, the menu amazing I decided to go have a meal at
that particular restaurant every time I visit the village as there were so many
delicious varieties on their menu to choose from. Also a first I have ever seen
on a menu Mieliepap and milk @ 20 bucks.
With breakfast done I head out to almost every single shop
to see what they are selling and ask the shops if they would like to buy some
of my animal skulls and what they in general through of my creations. People
absolutely loved this idea, something they have not seen before, they love the
colours and designs of the skulls and I leave the village with an order of ten
skulls to be delivered ASAP. I met Verma a kick ass chick that owns the only
tattoo shop in Clarens, and she had told me about a vulture feeding ground situated
in the Golden Gate National Park not too far from Clarens. Vera is one of the
people that have ordered a skull from me. After I leave Clarens with a lot of
excitement and even more ideas streaming through my mind I decide to go see
this vulture feeding ground. As Murphy’s law would have it, it took a couple of
minutes longer than expected, maybe even an hour.... I am what you call in
Afrikaans: “Rigting Bifok” and I have more than once gotten lost using the GPS
on my phone :/ so this was not surprising to me at all.
When
I eventually reached the vulture feeding ground I was not too impressed, for
some reason I had thought about a more dramatic scene like the Lion King movie,
but all there was, was a half rotten dead carcass of what looked like a Blue
Wildebeest. There was not even one vulture in sight, apparently it was too
windy. I did however come across some
bones that seemed to have been lying there in the heat of the sun for many
months or even years when i walked back to my car. I decided to take some of
those bones with me to see if I could come up with some other ideas of what I
could paint. Those rangers were right it was windy and the wind was quite
chilly, none the less I took off my jacket and filled it with as many bones as
I could. I then returned to Fouriesburg where I ended my journey with a trip to
the Crystal Caves situated on Debbie’s Farm. It was about a 25 minute walk and
definitely worth it, I have thought about doing a whole series of these skulls
and I wanted to collect some crystals and stones that I could use at a later
stage on some of my creations. The climb down to the cave was a bit high for my
comfort, but I managed to overcome my fear and collected many stones and
crystals.
I was planning on coming back to JHB on Tuesday, but I
changed my mind on my walk back to the farm after leaving the crystal caves. I
left Fouriesburg with great ideas, hundreds more than when I originally went
there. I am more confident than ever that I will achieve my dream! I have made
hundreds of notes over the last couple of days, and when I get back home I need
to start putting all my ideas together.
Before going to Fouriesburg, I had already gone to see a
Taxidermist close to where I live. The owner is a very kind man with years of
knowledge in Taxidermy, the set up at his shop is awesome and I never expected
it to be so big, I have met all the staff told them about my idea and they are
all intrigued. I had bought three skulls and I will start painting on a daily
basis soon. The skulls I buy from the Taxidermist have been cleaned and treated
so it is safe and ready for me to use. Also, there won’t be any nasty surprises
down the line like worms or bugs for what would be the unfortunate and most
probably pissed off art lover. The Taxidermist had also given me two raw horns
to experiment on. These horns have been stripped of the outer layer, only the
bone inside is visible and it has been cleaned, but not polished which is what
they are currently doing for their clients. These horns really are beautiful
and I have already decided that I would use different Henna designs to paint on
them.
Monday morning my brother shows me a couple of Logo designs
he has come up with. I decide on which Logo design I am going to use, the Logo
design I settle on is vibrant, colourful and bold - pleasing to the eye and with
a Name like Shongololo Studio it definitely catches the eye, any person seeing
this being it outside a shop, online or at an art gallery will most probably be
curious to find out more about this Shongololo. The name Shongololo was one of three
possibilities we came up with the week before, most South-Africans knows what a
shongololo is, the Zulu/Xosa word for a millipede. My children also call
millipedes, shongololo’s. They
absolutely love the name we chose for the studio and the girls had a good
giggle about it. I hang out with Snoot for the day and we design my business
card and pamphlet and by the end of the day I have also contacted a couple of
places to get quotes for the cost of the printing.
Over the next couple of days I start creating my third
animal sugar skull and I also start working on other ideas with the bones that
I have collected at the vulture feeding ground, these bones have not been
treated, but because it has been exposed to the intense heat of the sun for
such a long amount of time it is safe to use. I had scrubbed them with water
and soap before I started painting on them to get rid of access sand and I had
also primed them with some PVA paint. It
didn’t take my imagination long to run wild and I came up with a few
possibilities of more Shongololo’s. It seems to me that since this idea started
I have come up with many more ideas about different creations, business
opportunities, the ultimate dream has grow bigger! It becomes easier for my
ideas to flow and thoughts become endless possibilities.
I created a fishlike looking Shongololo out of a jaw bone it
took quite a while to paint but it looks really sweet. I remember that when I was busy with Snoot
sorting through pictures and checking out websites and blogs to get an idea of
what other people were doing we had seen a design of a sugar whale, my new
creation reminded me of that whale and now I am thinking I could later on when
I find more places I can organise bones from possibly start creating a range of
these creatures. All designs one of a kind.
At this moment I am staying with my mom and my youngest
brother who has his own Tattoo Studio – Laarnie Tattoo’s, most of the time. Snoot, as I like to call my youngest brother
is assisting on the design and running of my webpage, and in a way my dream and
his dream will be connected. I have asked Snoot to start working on the design
of my Logo whilst I’m on this trip, he has studied Graphic Design and I know he
is more than capable of coming up with some great ideas. He has also given me
most of my tats, and I have walked away a satisfied customer after every tattoo.
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