Southern artists bloom
This was a juried competition, with judges from Canada, the USA and Ireland.
TWO artists from the South have been recognised for their talents in the International Watercolour Society South Africa (IWSSA) National Watermedia Exhibition, held at the Grayston Gallery in Sandton. This was a juried competition with judges from Canada, the USA and Ireland and it was open countrywide to any paintings done in acrylic, ink, gouache or watercolour.
Dalila de Matos and Barbie Cunningham (goes under Barbie Vandewalle) are thrilled to have received a first and second place respectively with Dalila also receiving an honourable mention.
Dalila’s painting, Myriad Pathways, received first place in the Opaque Watermedia category and her other entry, Typically Tropical, received an honourable mention. Barbie won an award for second place in the Transparent category with her painting, Gaggle Paddle.
A colourful journey
Dalila lives in Linmeyer and is known for her colourful and textured mixed media works. Her formal training is in architecture, interiors and she also has a BA majoring in art history. However, when it comes to fine art, she is largely self-taught.
“I do keep up to date though with regular workshops,” she added. Dalila has been painting since 2004 and in 2008 began to paint full-time.
“It was a real honour to have two of my paintings be chosen from so many fantastic works on the show and I’m very pleased with my placement,” she said. Dalila has been part of many group exhibitions over the years and her artworks have sold nationally and internationally.
Barbie lives in Gardenvale, Klipriver, and much of her subject choices are influenced by her childhood where she was brought up on a tobacco and cattle farm in Malawi.
“My roots are deeply embedded in open spaces, rural settings, big skies and all that nature offers, as well as my present environment.
“I started painting in earnest in 2003 after returning to Cape Town, having spent five years in Indonesia. I needed to quieten my soul and discovered a teacher who introduced me to watercolours. She taught me the most valuable lesson being what she called ‘the value of counter-change’; the contrast of dark against light, the use of complementary colours to bring impact and subtle drama into a painting.
“My journey in watercolours was further enriched by the late Richard Rennie who invited me to spend some time with him at his studio in Clarens. This was a very refreshing time for me as he defied all the watercolour purists, broke every rule and encouraged me to paint from the heart rather than be bound by the conformists.
“I have taken part in many joint exhibitions over the years and have been commissioned both locally and internationally. My art is my passion, my studio at home is my happy place, and I try to paint every day. I also teach adults from home and run the monthly art market, Art in the Garden at The Art Farm.
“I am deeply honoured to have won this award. Over the past few years watercolours have been making a comeback in other parts of the world and with the quality and quantity of artworks at this exhibition, it is very heart-warming that the medium is becoming popular again and can regain the status it deserves here in South Africa,” added Barbie.
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