Some of you might very well know what a red sticker on the price card means. I’m talking about the price card of pieces at an art exhibition….Well, I have some news to share…

On Sunday 3 April, the “Out of the wood” Exhibition opened at Strydom Gallery in George, a smallish city/large town here in the Southern Cape, South Africa. Apart from sculpture, wood turning and paintings, a total of 5 furniture makers, including myself, have works on display.

With the exhibition opening at 11h00 on a Sunday morning in what is a rather conservative town (I mean, everything is totally shut on a Sunday), I was pleasantly surprised by the large attendance. The place was pretty packed. Even the press was represented and it looks like my mug shot will be appearing in print soon (only local weekly papers though)!

My aim with the work I entered was to break away a little from the conventional and the fashionable. Art furniture as a genre is hardly known in South Africa. I attempted to focus on creativity and design, to explore the sculptural possibilities of furniture, to minimize time consuming (and price escalating!) traditional joinery without sacrificing quality and craftsmanship. As such, my work is “out of the box” in comparison to other entries, not necessarily fashionable or in vogue as presented by interior design and décor magazines. I really wondered how my work would be received by the viewing (and hopefully buying!) public. I was pleasantly surprised! I received numerous compliments and was constantly approached by people who wanted to talk about the work!

The best news? I got 2 red stickers!!! The first for one of my more expensive works, a hall table/occasional writing desk, the second for a small sculpture of a bird. Heeha!!
On the furniture side, a total of 7 stickers went up within an hour. Four, out of the five woodworkers sold at the opening which only lasted around 2 hours. I’m so happy for all of us! These guys are all good mates of me and they certainly deserve it.

More good news is that our exhibition is running concurrently with a major national arts festival which started yesterday in a nearby town, Oudtshoorn. Serious art buyers always make a point of visiting other galleries in the area. This means we will be getting plenty good feet in the coming week. We also have Easter weekend coming up – lots of rich holiday makers visiting from the interior!

In the words of my soul brother, many many thanks to my Angel!
Also to the Wood Spirits, my family and my friends.