Artists lay it all out at Cradlestone Mall

Local painters treated shoppers at Cradlestone Mall to quite an experience when they held an art exhibition on October 30 and 31. Organised by curator, Susan Allin, it was a change of scenery as its regular venue used to be Ramkiki Country Estate.

“We have had several inquiries about commissions so far, and five big artworks were sold. People are intrigued and they have shown interest,” Susan said. On the first floor next to Mr Price, the artists displayed their impressive works of art, ranging from portraits and equine art to landscapes.

Leonara de Lange who had several of her pieces on display said, “This is the first time I exhibit at Cradlestone Mall. People have shown a lot of interest but there hasn’t been any sales yet.” Equine artist, Gerdus Brönn said people enquired about having him paint their animals. “There have been some requests to bring certain pieces to their houses. People now aren’t interested in buying art pieces. The spending is more on commercial pieces; they don’t always look at a good piece of art. If you invest in a good artist it could be better than any other investment.” He shared that equine art was a new and exciting direction for him.

Zenon Rozycki said previous exhibitions at Ramkiki always had smaller groups in attendance. “The number of people that may see the art is not as good here. It is very visible when people know about the exhibit, but, here they stop incidentally.” The now 80-year-old painter revealed that he was preparing to do a series with flowers.

Newcomer, Michelle Gates said it was inspiring to see other artists’ work and get a few pointers. “It is really good to see what everyone is doing and to learn from the other artists here. This is the first time we are doing this, and it’s great that people are seeing our art. It’s really inspiring.”