LO at 'Kamers vol geskenke', Lourensford

Howzit frik-dawgs!!! Our Frikkie Cool Creative Elzanne LOuw was chosen earlier this year as one of the KAMERS vol geskenke young entrepreneurs to be sponsored to take part in KAMERS 2012. Watch the video below to see LO and some of the other amazingly talented girls who were handpicked to put their products on show at KAMERS, 21-27 October at Lourensford Estate, Somerset West. 

This year KAMERS vol geskenke, Lourensford will be trading for seven days instead of six as in previous years. Meaning more time for you to buy stuff!! Yes!! The opening night will be Sunday (21 October) and they will be trading from 16h00. This is open to the public and limited tickets will be available.

Besides trading a day longer, KAMERS will also be opening earlier and trading later on the Friday night.
Opening night: Sunday, 21 October 2012 (16h00 - 20h00)
Duration: Monday, 22 October to Saturday, 27 October 2012
Hours:Daily from 8h30 to 17h00, Friday from 8h30 to 20h00

There is also some exciting things happening at this years Kamers Lourensford:

Be inspired at KAMERS 2012 Lourensford by great talks about weddings, coffee, business, sustainable materials, traveling, creativity, raw food and more! Spaces are limited, so book now at mlaubser@afterimage.co.za. More info: www.kamersvol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25

FOOD BY KIDS:
Make a special gift! Come join FOOD BY KIDS' biscuit decorating class and fill a pretty box with your beautifully decorated biscuits.

26 October 2012 | 10:00 – 11:00 , 27 October 2012 | 10:00 – 11:00

Each child will receive 6 biscuits and a gift box, R30 per child, Ages: 6 – 13 years.

Contact Martjie to book for this fun-filled activity: Email: martjie@foodbypreserve.co.za
Cell: 0783645932

More about FOOD BY KIDS here.

Here is a sneak peak at what LO will be offer at this years KAMERS Lourensford:

Photos taken by Elzanne Louw, see more here

If you are in the Cape area go and check out KAMERS Lourensford and be sure to stop by LO's stall and say Howzit, and give her a HIGH-FIVE!

If you are not in the Cape area, don't worry, Kamers will be in Irene form 25 November - 1 December.

Army of Art® - South Africa's Creative Force

For a few months this name has made a creative commotion across the country - on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest…Army of Art. First exploding onto the social media scene, Army of Art brought a complete neoteric perspective on creative South African individuals. On the 1^st of October this year, they launched the first phase of their much anticipated website: www.army-of-art.co.za.

More than just an average platform or forum, it is an interactive entity for all South African creatives. A South African creative ‘’Facebook’’ some have compared it to; A phenomenal milestone for South African web development as per others; the first of its kind in the South African social media market - fact.

When asked how they initiated the concept, they replied:

‘’South Africa is a country filled to the brim with significantly creative people. It is time that we offered them a space where they can get the exposure and recognition they deserve, and the necessary assistance to sustain creativity as a career. We started this for the love of art, and the lack of wanting to pursue anything but art, and this in a country where it is already a struggle to make a living, even in a corporate job.”

Whether you are a struggling writer, a professional photographer, a notable personage in the music industry or even just an avid crafter in your sparetime, Army of Art has a place for you in their ‘’creative force’’. Artists from absolutely every and any category in South Africa's Creative industry are welcome.You don’t have to own a website or an impressive social media page, as you can get all the exposure you need on Army of Art’s website.

By creating a profile, you can upload your artworks, images, music videos, audio or literature. By using the advanced profile system, you can display your works in the public gallery, where your work is exhibited to hundreds of possible employers and other creatives alike. Through the friend and message system, you can communicate with others, share ideas and collaborate. You can submit all your events, (performances / tour dates, markets, sales, exhibitions, shows, festivals, new releases, conventions) to events@army-of-art.co.za for free submission to their events timeline.

The Army Of Art Team will continuously be improving and adjusting features and adding facilities to their site to provide optimum exposure for the artists, ensuring convenience of usage and expansion to better serve South Africa's creative community. Employer/ employee interaction will be the next feature added to the site, creating an employment hub for all South African artists. You will be notified of all employment opportunities in your field and will be able to apply via the site.

The beauty of an army is that it encompasses strength in numbers and power in creative strategies. This is just the start of many more things for Army of Art. The first issue of their magazine will soon be released, and word is out that they will be collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry to create more opportunities for SA artists to gain exposure and enhance our industry.

So if you are indeed a South African creative individual, be sure to join them, as this army is intent on growing and developing as an entity, whilst enriching the individuals that contribute to the force. One soldier does not an army make.

May the force be with you.

LO - Awesome New Spring/Summer 2012 Range

Our Frikkie Cool Creative - Elzanne LOuw released her LO Spring/Summer 2012 range today and we think it's absolutely Frikkie Awesome!! Well done Elzanne! The new range is available at the Neighbourgoods Market Johannesburg as of tomorrow. You can also buy it online at Hello Pretty.

Clothing: Lo
Shoes: Babette
Jewellery: Anna Richerby at The Gallery Shop, 48 Church Street, Cape Town, lorin@telkomsa.net.
Photographer: Jaco Minnaar
Model: Loura Roos, My Friend Ned
Hair: Minette Geyer, soulstyla@mail.com / soulstyla@yahoo.com
Art Direction: Jaco Minnaar & Elzanne Louw, elzanne@lo-studio.biz

Have a look at LO's website for more images of the range : www.lo-studio.biz

Frikkie Cool Creative: Zander Blom - Update

If you're an avid reader of Frikkie Awesome, you will know that we did a Frikkie Cool Creative post about Zander Blom a few months back and so we thought we would give you an update to what this awesome artist is currently up to! Zander's lastest exhibition "New Paintings" opened on Wednesday 5 September at the Stevenson gallery in Cape Town and will run until 13 October. If you are in Cape Town, get off your bicycle and be sure to go and have a look! It's amazing to be there to get the full effect and scale of these awesome paintings! The gallery hours are: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturdays 10am to 1pm.

Zander Blom writes:

A quote from Françoise Gilot's biography on Picasso made a lasting impression on me at the end of last year: "[Work] below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle only five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery, and you create a feeling of strength in reserve."

The added benefit of such a limitation in painting is that it has the potential to facilitate a refinement and expansion of one's language and ability. A limitation by its very nature forces one to seek out alternative avenues or ways to solve problems, and in doing so it can open up a range of new possibilities.

After last year's exceptionally colourful paintings I found myself moving back towards a monochromatic palette with newfound drive, purpose, clarity and intent. This year I'm narrowing my focus and sharpening my craft.

Frikkie Cool Creative: Elzanne LOuw

This weeks chosen Frikkie Cool Creative is one of our good friends, Elzanne Louw. A Pretoria local who now applies her trade in Cape Town. Elzanne runs her own clothing and accessory label from her studio in the mother city, called LO.

Elzanne started out in the big world by studying photography at T.U.T and completed her diploma in 2006. It was while studying that she fell in love with fashion photography. "To be honest I always spent more time on putting together outfits and making crazy props for shoots than I ever spent on taking and editing pictures."   When the opportunity presented itself  for her to study a second time, she grabbed it with both hands and begun studying fashion at U.J. Her intention was to get into the fashion magazine world. During her time at U.J, she became fascinated by pattern making and tailoring. It was somewhere between her compelling urge to make things by hand, her pattern classes and her part time job at Superella that the bug had bitten and the realization was made - "Hey, I can be a Fashion Designer! Why the Frik not?"

It all turned out to be a lot of hard work, but that is exactly what she did. Elzanne moved down to Cape Town at the end of 2010.   "By Jan 2011, with a lot of love and support from some amazing friends and family Lo was born."   The name LO is derived from Elzannes surname, LOuw.   "I like this little connection, it makes me feel close to my work and like it connects to my heritage."
LO primarily produces ladies clothing and accessories, everything is produced locally and designed by Elzanne personally. All the materials are locally sourced while she personally does all the patterns. All of LO's ranges are always limited which makes LO a very exclusive and must have brand! For example, the winter coats and jackets are both based on very classic shapes, they are beautifully hand made from fine quality materials in the rich colors of the season, which is a Navy and a deep Rust colour.

LO is targeted towards women of all ages who have an appreciation for classic lines and shapes combined with quality in textile and quirky details. Comfort and fit are also top priority!  

 "I am often inspired by craft, vintage trims and buttons ,textile, print, colour, Art and Photography. These days my photographic expressions are limited to my Instagram addiction which is actually a great source of inspiration."

 
For winter this year, LO features a limited range of hand knitted gloves and neck-warmers as well as a selection of fabulous layered skirts and dresses, long sleeve blouses and for those in between season days, LO has some easy to layer Sailor dresses and short sleeve shirts.

If you are in the Gauteng region, be sure to check out LO at the Neighbourgoods market in Braamfontein every Saturday morning. If you are in the Cape Town area you can catch LO this Saturday, 2 June, at The Treasury Market in Stellenbosch or you can now buy LO clothing online at Hello Pretty. You can also check out her website and Facebook page for more info!! We here at Frikke Awesome find everything LO does to be LOvely and beFRIK, and a must have fashion item in any ones wardrobe!!

Keep an eye out on the blog and the Facebook page for an awesome COMPETITION where you can win yourself a LO Clothing voucher. Details to follow.

Frikkie Cool Creatives: Andrew Wright

Well its that time again... Time for another Frikkie Cool Creative... And today we shall not disappoint!! Today's creative is another P-Town local, but who now resides in another land... Far far away in Toronto, Canada, the land of snow and ice hockey, one can find the incredibly talented and most Rock n' Roll guy that you will ever meet!!! The guy I'm referring to is none other than Andrew Wright! Andrew grew up in Pretoria and studied at the University of Pretoria where he obtained a degree in Graphic Design (now commonly known as Information Design). Not only is Andy a talented artist, but he is also very well known for his talents in the music department... Some of you who are old enough to remember back to the good old days of the Nile Crocodile, might remember the MASSIVE Ska/Punk band, Leek and The Bouncing Uptones. This is just one of Andy's many great bands that he has started. During the time of Leek, Andy ran Croakroom records who were at that stage the biggest record label for the ska/punk scene, helping getting bands such as Fuzigish on the map with releases and promotion etc...

In the early days, he did his fair share of work for the smaller design agencies in and around Pretoria, but he really started to find his roots when he founded Breath of Fresh Air (BOFA) with a mate of his, Mark Hinch. BOFA ran along for a couple of years before Mark moved over to the UK and Andy started working for KFD/Revolution skateboards in Joy-Hannesburg. It was around this time that Andy founded another legendary band, The Slashdogs. The Slashdogs were a mean-ass rock-n-roll band that kicked some serious ass!! They were around for a couple of years before going about there own ways... Unfortunately! Soon after this though, he begun work for Iron Fist Clothing, which ended up leading him out of the country and to greener pastures! But whilst still in the land of the boerewors and beer, Andy started up yet ANOTHER band, although this time way more of a chilled vibe compared to The Slashdogs, in the form of the rockabilly band, Reverend Wright and The Mystery Train Gamblers.

Before long, Andy started work for Iron Fist clothing in San Diego, California, where he worked and lived for just over a year before making his final move to date, to the city of Toronto, Canada, where he currently lives with his wife Jen. After his move to Toronto, Andy revived BOFA, spiced up his website and began taking on new clients. Aaaaaand this is where we sit today... An extremely talented export from the city of the Snor, making a name for himself out there in the big world!!!

For any info regarding how you can get in touch with Andy and Breath of Fresh Air, hit this link for Andy's blog or check out his website here!!!

Oude Libertas Exhibition

If you're in the Mother city this week, be sure to check out the Oude Libertas Art Gallery in Stellenbosch and there exhibition for women artists. The artists featured work with different types of mediums, such as photography, fine art, sculpture etc... Be sure to pop in and check out a good friend of Frikkie Awesome, Charlotte Heyn. Charlotte is a photographer from the Snor Baai who's photos aim to portray the beauty of her subjects in a very feminine way. Go have a check. Support. And let us know how it looks!!! Peace. BOOM!!!

"The River" an exhibition by Louis Minnaar and Maaike Bakker & words by Jaco van der Merwe

For those of you in Cape Town, head on down to Salon 91 in Kloof Street for The River exhibition. It features two of Snor City's own, namely Maaike Bakker and Louis Minnaar. Its a tale more than an exhibition, and tells the story of a sloth on a terrible journey hoping to recover what he has lost. All the words to this tale were penned by Jaco van der Merwe (Bittereinder). This is one event not to be missed!! The exhibition runs from the 4th to the 21st of April. Get down there and prepare yourself for total awesomness from P-Town!! Doors open at 19:30! Do it...

Frikkie Cool Creative - Roelf Daling

HEEEEEEEY Snor City!! Whats a happening today?? Dis n MOER LEKKER dag in die Snor Baai!!! So... We know it has been a week without the usual Frikkie Cool Creative of the week, but do not fear, all hope is not lost!! We would like to present to you, Roelf Daling. An extremely talented P-Town local, who also happens to be a good friend of Frikkie Awesome. The following was written by Roelf specifically for todays post, so sit back, enjoy and let us know what you think! Roelf can be contacted on Facebook or Twitter if anyone is interested in commissioning him for work or even community projects!! Enjoy... 

“...remember that the absence of method is the best method.”

First of all I would like to congratulate Frikkie Awesome for being sooo Frikkie Awesome soos dit! At last we are starting to see a spike in the creative culture of Pretoria and South-Africa. Don’t get me wrong, South-African’s are very creative people, but we are a bit behind when it comes to technology and social media amongst other things. One thing that makes me negative is seeing different aspects of the American culture spilling over into South-Africa. I truly believe that we, as the next generation of creatives, are more than capable of painting an intriguing portrait of South-Africa for the rest of the world. I believe we are creating something so unique that people will stand in a queue to be a part of it. But we are not there yet, we must learn from these foreign influences, and apply everything we do and say to a South-African context. This way we are reinforcing the same pride we share amongst our culturally rich diverCITIES. Now connected in every sense, South-Africa is part of this intimidating global village, and we’ve got so much to show. Soon we’ll share so much that the world will start to wonder why they look like idiots compared to us. And Frikkie Awesome is on the front lines of a NeoAfrican cultural paradigm shift.

Ek is gebore in Pretoria en beoog ook om hier te bly vir die res van my lewe. Ek was nie altyd so patrioties oor Suid-Afrika en Pretoria nie. Ek het in 2004 vir ses maande in London en die Isle of Man gaan werk en het daar my liefde vir Suid-Afrika begin kry. Toe ek terug gekom het, het ek B.IS Multimedia gedoen vir twee jaar waarna ek na BA. Fine Arts toe oorgeskakkel het, en in 2010 my honeurs daarin gekry het. I majored in New Media art, which is an art movement that started at the dawn of the information age. New media art is the broad term used to discuss in essence anything from film, audio, projections, lasers, lights, computers, electronics, internet and many more.

After my studies I did some programming workshops in Frankfurt, Germany and was hoping to discover a whole world of new media art but was a little disappointed in my findings. After two months of baring the dystopic stench of a culture I wasn’t really welcome in, I realized yet again that Pretoria is the city I belong to. Check out this video on youtube: Our Place, My Space.

After two years of making art I didn’t have anything to show for it, because I never really made physical objects, it was all site specific interactive installation based projections. So I decide to come back to earth and work with one the oldest traditional mediums, and on the other end of the scale from new media, bronze casting. This really liberated my mind from the digital world and gave me new perspective for art making. I was fortunate enough to work in studio with Mr Guy du Toit, and all most learned more in a month than in a few years. Guy du Toit is an exceptional artist and will always be one of my mentors. Two of my bronze works made it into national art competitions, ‘Afval’ for Absa l’Atelier and ‘Africa’s Scepter’ for Sasol New Signatures. During this time I also made a Fogscreen, which I believe is the first one in South-Africa, for Rhapsody’s in Lynwood Bridge. Isabel Mertz worked with me at du Toit’s studio for a few months and recently won the prestige Gerard Sekoto prize at Absa l’Atelier. I recommend everyone to keep their eyes open for Isabel, she is going to show us many more creative sculptures. 

Recently I started painting in studio with Riegert Deetlefs, and hope to develop my style. I mainly try to focus on stencilling, spray-paint and acrylic pens as a medium. I think that every artist must paint at some stage in his/her life. There is something very special about getting your hands dirty with colourful paint. I’m very glad that I have the opportunity to work with Riegert, and together we function as a creative think tank. We are constantly looking for interesting ways to combine new media with traditional arts to create something contemporary. 

I’m also doing some research and development on a 3d scanning system for Angus Taylor. I’ll be exhibiting at the fringe exhibition of the Dimension exhibition at Fried Contemporary. This will show the work of Angus Taylor, Wayne Barker and Maria van Rooyen, and opens on 26 November 2011.

For the artists out there: Follow only your heart, and remember that the absence of method is the best method. 

You stay frikkie, Pretoria!

Frikkie Cool Creative - Riegerdt Deetlefs

Have a look at this weeks Frikkie Cool Creative, Riegerdt Deetlefs. A good friend of Frikkie Awesome putting out some amazing work...and yet again another Snor City Local!! Boom!

"I see what Van Gogh saw"

“EK sien myself as ‘n progressionist, ek kan dit voel, ek werk op emosie. Emotional intelligence is ‘n boek wat ek nou lees en Daniel Coleman praat van dit as belangriker as jou IQ .Dit is soos Horace Walpope sê: life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. Ek hou van die idée dat emosies so belangrik is.My emosies beinvloed my kuns elke oomblik as ek verf en anders om. Kuns vir my is absoluut te doen met groei en ontwikkeling van die kunstenaar of mens en die ontdekking van emosies.”

“Kuns word vir my in twee verskillende maniere gesien. Aan die een kant kry jy die ‘stywes’wat die kuns wêrled baie ernstig opneem en ook aan die ‘commercial’ side van kuns val. Aan die ander kant is dit meer die ‘ontspannes’ of die ‘losses’wat die wêrled wil oorneem met hulle kreatiwiteit, menswees, uniekheid, idees, maniere of enige ding wat vir ontwikkeling help. Ontwikkelinge wat gaan help met ‘Progression’.”

“Om eerlik te wees word die wêreld vir my te ingewikkeld, onbetroubaar en beweeg te vinnig.

Dit is soos Jack Johnson sê, slow down everyone, you’re moving too fast,en ek sit in die middel. Ek will ok nie gesien word as die arme kunstenaar nie, ek weet dat ek oppad is erns heen, maar ek wil net nie die ‘Gallery uitweg kies nie. Om in ‘n gallery te werk onder iemand is nie my idée van kuns nie. “

“Dit is ‘n leefstyl wat elke dag aan gewerk moet word, maak nie saak of ek een stuk ‘n maand verkoop nie.Dis om bereid te wees om elke dag op te staan en kuns te maak.”

 

“Ek kies ook die primitiefste vorm van media, wat verf is, omdat ek met dit kan gebruik om enigeiets te skep.Frees is wat vir my my emosies vuur gee…”

“My kuns help my om te create om elke dag te create, al weet ek nie wat ek gaan maak nie, die vertroue om te groei in my kuns is vir my die belangrikste. Dit is soos om te glo in GOD, wil nie in geloof ingaan nie, maar dit speel ‘n belangrike rol in my creatiwiteit. Dit is baie eenvoudig, as jy glo, sal jy gered word, as jy soek sal jy vind en as jy vra sal dit vir jou gegee word. Ek vra elke dag om die gawe te kry om kuns te maak, en dit is hoekom dit werk, ek verstaan dit nie nootwendig ten volle nie (geloof) maar ek waardeer dit baie.”