All Tied Up

Profile in String

1000mm x 800mm x 50mm (Mixed media)
Click on image for larger version

This artwork has been such a great new adventure for me. It's quite different to all of my previous paintings. It all began with some friends in Postmasburg donated their 'canvasless' stretchers (that is, the wooden frame to which the canvas is usually stapled) to me because they were moving overseas and couldn't take the canvas on the wooden stretcher on board the plane without paying a large sum of money. These stretchers sat in our kitchen for weeks, as I contemplated about what to do with them. It had to be something creative. 

Finally, in a moment of brilliance, I thought about suspending one of the smaller ones inside the larger one using string... lots and lots of string. So I set about the task. Got some balls of string and nails from the local paint shop and started my creation in the back garden, just under the wash line. Ahhhh, it was such joy working with my hands in the heat of the Kalahari sun. After using a spanner for a hammer, some nails and 2 blood blisters later, I managed to finish winding and weaving the string around the frames (the nails were used as anchors so that the string would not slip out of place).

The next problem came when I couldn't decide what to do next. The artwork definitely needed some finishing off. I remembered that I had some spare canvases lying around that needed to be remodeled into proper art. I tried my hand at burning the canvas into pieces, but that didn't work out too well. So I resorted to the good ol' pair of scissors. After that it was time to sew. I spent a few long hours sewing the small pieces of painted canvas onto the tangled lines of string, hoping that some sort of image would be able to emerge. And it did!

This is a close-up of the painted canvas pieces attached to the string

I cannot lie. Deciding when to stop was a difficult decision - should I continue or is this enough canvas? Should I add some other element or are the canvas and string enough? Eventually, I decided it was time to put the needle down and walk away. 

Now I am ready to embark on finding a new idea for the next piece of art. 

I do need to add a side note. In the middle of creating this, my husband and I did move back to Centurion from being in the Northern Cape for 15 months. I completed this in my new temporary studio - which is out on the veranda of my friend, Soon-Jong Kim's farm.

FOR SALE.

If you are interested, please email: christytempiesartist@gmail.com

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.

Back to Johannesburg

 Near the Airport in Beeshoek, 10km outside of Postmasburg

 Our time in the small town of Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape of South Africa, sadly came to an end on the 3rd of October 2011 when my husband's tenure on the mine came to completion. We are officially back into the busy lifestyle that big city life brings. It's good to be back in a way, and in other ways not. I find myself yearning for the khakibos, the flat open veld landscape and big blue sky. Also the spaciousness of the house we were staying in. We have certainly down-sized in the space of our living quarters. The balcony has now become my art studio! It is not easy, but the Bible verse of 1 Timothy 6:6 "Now godliness with contentment is great gain" is convicting. In this new season of our lives, we will continue to strive towards godliness and holiness. I'm excited to see what the next painting / artwork will come out like. May God be glorified in it all!

The Hak & Steek Boom (Tree) in bloom

Talking about God being glorified, I would like to make you aware of this awesome organisation that is making a large impact of the youth in George, South Africa. Their name is Realstart and you can view their website at: http://realstart.org/. In an effort to support them and their ministry to the youth who are in great need, I will be donating 30% of all future sales of my paintings to Realstart. 

If you are interested in any artworks, please contact me on: artist@christytempies.co.za or visit my website on: http://www.christytempies.co.za 

Just outside of Postmasburg, on the dirt road to Witsand

Just outside of Postmasburg, on the dirt road to Witsand

In Flight

In Flight

600mm x 900mm x 50mm (Mixed media on Canvas)

I'm breaking free! Now with my illustrations for a children's book complete, I am breaking free from the restrictive need to be illustrative. I took this canvas out into the garden and attacked it by splashing water, then sprinkling sand and then squirting paint all over it. Awesome freedom of expression! The subject matter was not premeditated – it was completely spontaneous.

Please note that this artwork is no longer available.

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.

The Brothers

This painting was partly inspired by a boy named Godfrey and his brother who live in Newtown, Postmasburg. One day at the park during the Bible Club, I caught them in the perfect pose together with my camera. I thought it may be a good picture for something, some day... I'm so glad I'm able to use it sooner than what I had expected.

The second photo that was responsible for inspiring me was one that I took on an afternoon drive through Newtown with my husband. It was of two little boys playing soccer in the street. The sun was in the right position, casting long shadows. It was just a beautiful composition with dramatic light. I combined both photos to 'make' this painting.

I was taught that painting from photos really does influence the 'life' and energy of the painting. I agree. I do prefer painting live subjects as opposed to subjects from photos. But in the case of painting people and situations from the township, it is just not an option for me right now. Firstly, because I am white and a woman – it's just not safe. Secondly, people crowd around artists when they are out in the open and become an annoying distraction!

"The Brothers" is the second painting in the series "The Forgotten". Many children suffer neglect and troubled family lives in Newtown. Sadly, many of the adults are alcoholics in Newtown and spend their days (if and when they are not working) in a drunken stupor, unable to properly care or nuture their children. This results in the older children looking after the younger ones, even if they are a mere 3-4 years older than their siblings. They must entertain themselves and fend for themselves. They are the forgotten.

The Brothers
The Forgotten Series

700mm x 500mm x 50mm (Acrylic on Canvas)

Please note that this artwork has been sold.

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.

Grou Yster

A new painting! I must confess, it has been too long since I last painted. Now that I have completed and launched my own website (check out http://www.christytempies.co.za), my mind is clear to start painting again. HTML coding and paint do not mix.

Grou Yster...

There is a story behind this title. My husband, Jon, and I had the privilege of spending a weekend with some good friends of ours who live in the township area called Newtown in Postmasburg. We learnt a lot that weekend! Our friends love music and dancing. Along with learning some new dance moves (that we can't pull off quite yet), we learnt the names for them too. I'm not sure if the following slang is only limited to the Northern Cape or not: 'Grou Yster' and 'Stof Pad' are terms used to describe their type of dancing which is a combination of tribal / pantsula dancing. 'Grou Yster' literally means: mining / digging iron ore... so in dancing the moves are compared to someone using a pick to hack the iron ore out of the ground. 'Stof Pad' basically means that when you dance, you move so well that you kick up the dust, thus making dust clouds which look just like the clouds a car makes when it drives down a dirt road. These vivid descriptions really appealed to Jon and I... and even inspired me so far as to paint it.

We have been exposed to Ikasi (Township) life. It's so different for me, being a white middle-class person who was never really in a township until a year ago. It fascinates me to no end. And thus, the need grows in me to record it. This painting marks the beginning of a new series called 'The Forgotten'. For me, this series is going to represent the lives of those who live in the Township, which many people outside of the township do not know and/or are forgotten about by society. But I also want to illustrate that there is hope in the midst of poverty. So the journey begins:

Grou Yster
The Forgotten Series

800mm x 600mm x 25mm (Acrylic on Canvas)

Please note that this artwork has been sold.

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.

Newtown Ikasi Sketches

It's been a busy time. I guess this is to prove that I have still been productive. I have been feeling a little less inspired than normal over the past few months to paint. I have also realised the need for me to be drawing people more. It's essential to keep up the skill and discipline of drawing as this is the base of all art – you need to know how to draw before you sculpt and paint. My favourite mediums to draw in are charcoal and chalk pastel. I have used these two mediums in the sketches below.

You may also be wondering about the title of this post. Ikasi is the slang word for township in South Africa. We live just 2km away from the township called Newtown. I can't explain the reason for my deep interest and fascination with townships, or the need to understand the people in a township. But all I know is that I am able to express my obsession through drawing and painting. There are so many different stories to be told, some of heartache, some of tragedy but also some of hope and joy. My hope is to capture these stories.

The following two pictures are drawn on Canson Paper, using chalk pastel. I used reference pictures from Newtown for these drawings.

Newtown Sketch Number 1
May 2011
(Chalk Pastel on Canson Paper)

Newtown Sketch Number 2
May 2011
(Chalk Pastel on Canson Paper)

I asked a couple of our (my husband and I) friends to pose for me. They are currently living in Newtown. After this sketch (Newtown Sketch Number 3), that took about 40-50minutes, they were ready to collapse.

Newtown Sketch Number 3
June 2011
(Charcoal on Cartridge Paper)

This is the second drawing of our friends. This sketch was more of an exercise to see whether I could capture them and get the right proportions of their bodies in the shortest amount of time. The bodies turned out alright, but the faces... need some work!

Newtown Sketch Number 4
June 2011
(Charcoal on Cartridge Paper)

This is the last and most recent sketch. I did not use any reference pictures for this sketch, but I did sketch it out of my memory. On more than one occasion of visiting Newtown, I have seen boys riding on their home-fixed bikes. It really appealed to my soul, so I decided to record it in my own style.

Newtown Sketch Number 5
July 2011
(Charcoal on Cartridge Paper)

Please contact the artist if you are interested in any works on this blog at: artist@christytempies.co.za.
Visit my website: http://www.christytempies.co.za
All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2011. All rights reserved.

The Mango Seller

I haven't painted for what seems like an age! I have finished off my "Life in the Northern Cape" Series, so this is not part of that series (please note the lack of the bright blue aqua colour). I am still, however, going through the phase of dripping paint and painting black people as subject matter. I honestly don't know when that will ever change!

But let me tell you more about the painting. My husband and I drive once a month to Johannesburg from Postmasburg (in the Northern Cape) and then return. On the journey, we often pass people selling a range of goods. Just outside of Klerksdorp (in the North West Province), when mangos are in season, there are quite a few mango sellers on the side of the road. This really inspired me and I felt the need to paint them. I took a few reference pics as we drove by and decided to use this boy as the subject matter of my painting. Just to clarify, he is eating from a packet of chips (well, at least that is my interpretation) - my husband requested I put that important information in.

Step 1

So this is the beginning of the painting. I started off with a lot of Raw and Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber (that is the different tones of brown) mixed with a bit of Ultra-marine Blue to make it a little richer. I liked how the different brush strokes on the right started making a 'zig zag' movement, so I developed it further into a road. This adds more depth and perspective to the painting.

Step 2

The painting is emerging here quite nicely (above). I had to tone down the tree that is behind the mangos quite a bit because it was overpowering the painting because it was too dark and strong. I started adding more highlights on the boy and the mangos because they are the focal point. I found that adding highlights that were a light cream colour to the crates on which the mangos are balanced, really enhanced the crates more than using just a straight grey or red highlight. I also thought that making the boys jersey green would add more colour to the overall painting, otherwise it would've been too 'brown' in the overall colour. I like how the Burnt Sienna (orangy colour) is coming through the green areas on his jersey. I struggled a bit with his face, I must confess. But I really like how the jeans have come out - using the cream highlights again was very effective. So this is it:

The final Painting

The Mango Seller

762mm x 610mm (Acrylic on Canvas)

Please note that this artwork has been sold.

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.

Illustration: Jamie's White Rabbit

My friend, Jamie, requested that I do this illustration for her of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I modified it a bit (like making his eyes blue) to her specification. This is how it turned out:

Please contact the artist if you are interested in any works on this blog: artist@christytempies.co.za.
Visit my website: http://www.christytempies.co.za
All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2011. All rights reserved.

Illustration: Lotus

I have not written for almost a month now. That is quite bad! I have, however, been busy with other projects. I thought though, that I needed to blog and expose you to some more of my artwork, even though it is not in the Fine Art genré.

Illustration. My second passion when it comes to being creative. I did this illustration below for a friend of mine who owns and loves his Lotus.


I would like to advertise my services here too - if you are wanting an illustration done like this, please send me an email and I'll see what I can do for you. See my details below. Thanks :)

Please contact the artist if you are interested at: artist@christytempies.co.za.
Visit my website: http://www.christytempies.co.za
All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2011. All rights reserved.

KhoiSan Contemplation

This is my latest offering and addition to the Northern Cape Series. It was a slow start to the year, but I have managed to finish this painting in good time. I was inspired by a photo that we saw in a museum in Upington. This man has so much character that I could not resist painting him.

It was a bit tricky in the beginning. I used my normal colour palette (with the unique aqua blue colour of course) and found that I was a bit too heavy handed with the red in the background to the left of his head. I did manage to tone that down quite a bit. I was dangerously painting on the edge of disaster by focusing more on the foreground and nearly neglecting the background completely. One of the key things to remember when painting, is to paint all areas consistently. Do not finish one area and then move onto the next, one must work the whole painting at once. Fortunately, I managed to save this one from being overworked in some areas and underworked in others. Here is the final product:

KhoiSan Contemplation
Life in the Northern Cape Series

800mm x 600mm (Acrylic on Canvas)

FOR SALE

If you are interested, please contact christytempiesartist@gmail.com

All content and images copyright © Christy Tempies, 2017. All rights reserved.