It was great to participate in a group exhibition hosted by Art In the Yard in Franschhoek.  The theme was Taken Beyond and focused on landscapes. 

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this first body of works in my NEW art studio on our new property Hope Streams. Although it's still a bit of a store-room while we steadily finish renovating the main house, it is functional. Like in life "If we waited until all was perfect, nothing would be done at all". 

So, amidst the dissaray, I forge on, 'finding things' and mostly too, finding great joy. 

The work is filled with 'hope' and expectation for what 'lies ahead', and with lots of personal meaning in the bits of collage, gold, thread, stamps and my precious little images of people that I've photographed ... some from as long ago as 2004/5

As some of the stamps date back considerably, my friend Ana gently mentioned that I could very well be using "highly valuable" stamps in my work ... but oh, the value for me is in the use of them in a piece that will bring joy to whoever sees it ... rather than it being secured in a pristine album; much like the value of life is in it's use!

I have another body of work on the go, that goes BEYOND still ... and I'm happy to be TAKEN up in the process.

The images have in some cases loaded as quite large, and depending on your screen size/resolution you might need to scroll up and down a bit ..... but you can view the works on the beautiful Art In the Yard website.

If you're in and around Franschhoek, stop in to view them in the real where Sharlene will assist you.