6 | Greenstone events december 2017
6 | Greenstone events december 2017
Rand Aid ’ s great artists
A diverse community of people live in the four retirement villages run by the 114-year-old NPO , Rand Aid . What was not known until recently , however , is that among the residents are five artists whose work can be found across the world .
When Inyoni Creek resident Harry Voerman turned 90 recently , a chat with him revealed that he is well known in art circles . Then someone recalled that fellow resident Vernon Schultz has also made a name for himself as a painter . A little bit of digging uncovered another three Rand Aid artists : Ethelwynne van Eck and June Branthwaite , who lives at the Elphin Lodge complex and Joseph Capelle of Thornhill Manor .
Only June and Ethelwynne , who are both involved in the village ’ s art group , knew each other ; the others were not aware that they had art contemporaries in their midst . Interestingly enough , Vernon and Joseph sit a pew apart in church each Sunday but neither one knew that the other was a fellow artist or a member of the Rand Aid community .
At a tea organised on November 10 to bring the five together , they shared art stories and viewed each others ’ works . The baby of the group is 78-year-old Joseph Capelle . He
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was a commercial artist – working in advertising agencies and doing paintings that he knew would sell – until a life-changing experience made him take stock of what he really wanted to do .
“ I was hijacked and kidnapped ,” he says , explaining that the trauma prompted him to follow his heart and create art that is true to himself . Today , Joseph is well-known for his religious-themed paintings , including a series of modern depictions of the Stations of the Cross .
An ensemble of artists ... Vernon Schultz , Harry Voerman , Joseph Capelle , June Branthwaite and Ethelwynne van Eck .
He has 153 paintings in churches across the country . In addition , many of his works have found their way into private collections . Some of the more prominent places where his work can be seen are the Merchant Bank , Sun City , Oracle and Sugar Beach Hotel in Mauritius . Joseph received good reviews and sold many paintings after a solo exhibition at the Karen McKerron Fine Art Gallery . He also participated in a group exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery and showed his work alongside that of Rina Bakis at the Little Louvre .
Another Rand Aid artist whose life was changed in a heartbeat is June , 83 . After losing loved ones in a tragedy in 1982 , she found solace in art . Although she enjoys pastels , mixed media , silk and Chinese painting , her first love is watercolours . She is a proud Associate of the Watercolour Society of South Africa and has participated in many exhibitions . Her painting ‘ Shapes Interwoven ’ won first prize in the 1999 Watercolour Society of South Africa Branch Signature Awards and in 2001 , Touchwood Gallery submitted three of her paintings to the Grahamstown Arts Studio .
Vernon , 92 , also only started painting late in life . When he was a youngster working on the mines , he borrowed a bicycle and pedalled off to the CNA where he bought a set of paints and executed six paintings . However , he did not pick up a paintbrush again for a number of decades , until a hernia at age 74 forced him to find a pursuit gentler than the furniture making and house building he had been doing for years .
A Probus club pioneer , he cajoled a fellow member into giving him a few art lessons and the rest , as they say , is history . Vernon has been a prolific painter with most of his work being commissioned by friends and associates through word-of-mouth .
“ I remember once someone walked into my home and took five paintings off the walls , and then returned five months later and took another five ,” he says . He remembers taking one of his first paintings to be framed , and this leading to a commission of a painting depicting animals around a waterhole . “ It was my first decent sale .” He was subsequently commissioned to do a series of bird paintings and then asked to paint ancient cycads , which in turn led to the sale of another 25 of his paintings by the same person . Vernon held a number of exhibitions in Edenvale over the years .
Ethelwynne did a BScience degree at the University of Natal , majoring in Botany and Zoology , before earning a University Education Diploma and going on to teach high school biology for many years . Her soul sheltered an artist , though , and in her 40s , she did an Arts degree at UNISA and attended the School of Art in Johannesburg . “ I took up painting with a passion and sold hundreds of my works - mainly still life and flowers ,” she says .
In 2015 , Ethelwynne had a stroke which affected her right hand and leg . She thought it was the end of her art journey but she recently joined the art group at Elphin Lodge , where she is not only teaching herself how to sketch using her left hand but also tutoring the members where needed .
It seems that many an artist has had to suppress their creativity in order to secure a stable income . Dutch-born Harry studied in Rotterdam before becoming an engineer . In 1959 he emigrated to South Africa and continued his engineering career . However , in 1969 , at the age of 42 , he could no longer subdue his artistic side and tackled his first serious painting – a still life . Harry participated in workshops with Machiel Hopman , Richard Rennie and George Boys and held many exhibitions in Holland and South Africa over the course of his painting career . The many vibrant canvases he has created over the ensuring years are a reflection of the man himself .
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