nineteen

Some pretty fashions to make your Saturday even better!

tank magazine.






twigs and honey.





family affairs.

film is awesome sauce

I came across this South African blog thanks to Diana and I have become addicted. I find it so admirable that the entire thing is in film, that's a pretty big feat nowadays! She also manages to capture the South African spirit so magically. Is it weird that I knew that the people she had photographed were locals just by looking at the pictures?

Marsi van de Heuvel

This past week I was lucky enough to interview the immensely talented Marsi van de Heuvel. This Capetonian is such a cool kid but has a very elusive internet persona so I knew I had to ask her some questions and find out more.



When did you start painting and why?

I have been painting for as long as I can remember. My mother is an art teacher so I've had access to art materials since I was little. Then I painted for fun, but as the years passed, I began to feel like I had to paint. I have many interests, but art has always been this constant that I have remained loyal to because it is a platform to explore anything.

What influences your paintings?

I am influenced by everything; aspects of people or the environment that repel and attract me, all have an influences on who I am and what I do. At the moment I am painting black ink landscapes. They are like portholes; intended to briefly project the self to a quiet natural space and be wild for a moment. I feel like I'm on an adventure when I paint them. They are lonely landscapes. I never paint animals or people in them. I sculpt as well, usually endangered animals, but what isn't endangered these days.

Where do you normally paint? Outside, coffee shops etc.

I have a studio in Cape Town that I sometimes paint in, I mostly sculpt there, it's messy. I also paint at home on the dining room table, on the lounge table, in bed, on the couch, at my boyfriends place, at a friend's house. I don't like working in public spaces like coffee shops, it makes me feel uncomfortable.





If you're ever in a creative rut do you have any rituals or silly things you do to help you get out of it?

In creative ruts I switch mediums, like oil painting to water color or sculpture or fine liner, I have even tried field recordings. Or I visit the library and start doing research on something else that interests me. If that doesn't work, I exercise or sleep a lot until it passes.


What is your favourite thing about being a South African or South Africa in general?

My favorite thing about South Africa? Hard to choose between fynbos, Diemersfontein Pinotage, and Deluxe coffee.




What one place do you want to visit in your lifetime?

I would love to go to Norway to see the Northern lights.

What music are you listening to at the moment?

Nick Cave - White Lunar, on repeat.

The artist herself:



Thanks so much Marsi for taking the time to answer my questions, they were all so insightful and the tips to get out of a rut will definitely be put to use!

I'm so excited that it's Friday tomorrow, I've got a friends birthday party this weekend and the theme is cross-dressing (eep!) so I'll definitely let you lovelies know how that all plays out.

presents

A few weeks back I had my eighteenth birthday and my friends & family (being the super awesome people that they are) managed to seriously fulfill my need for materialistic things. The gifts they got me were amazing, I felt so spoiled!

First off I got some necklaces,



And then some books both old and new, all of which I've been dying to read lately! I'm currently paging through Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.




And last of all I got a vintage 1920s (working!) camera. I haven't touched it yet 'cause I'm petrified I'll break it but I can't wait till I actually get the courage to take some pictures.





Oh and here are some pretty things I thrifted this past Saturday:




How have you all been holding up lately? I know things around here have been pretty jumpy (the blog even decided to crash for a few hours this morning) but things are back on track & I'm super excited for something I've got lined up for the next day or so. It's a little feature I haven't had on here before (:

sneak peek

I have found yet another website to quench my thirst for being a wardrobe creep, aptly named The Closet Voyeur. Oh goodness!










I don't have much to say today probably because I'm half asleep and I'm trying to get this post published before my internet cuts out again as I've been having serious problems with my connection lately. Oh the woes of living in a third world country.

The Dollkeeper

By now I'm sure you've all seen snippets of the Audrey Grace magazine that's been published just in time for the Audrey Grace Pop Up shop in NYC (a great marketing scheme if I ever did see one). The publication is filled with interviews and pretty photographs alike. I was delighted to see that Micaela of The Drifter & the Gypsy got to do a shoot for the magazine. She is one of the first ever blogs I found and one of the main reasons I'm in the blogging universe!

The shoot is the story of a doll held captive by the dollkeeper who keeps her for his own selfish longing.









It's a Friday and the start of the Easter holidays so I'm pretty excited!

Ireland Ireland

In honour of St. Patty's Day this past Saturday I thought I'd post some pics from the National Library of Ireland's photostream on the flickr Commons.

Happy post St. Patricks Day lovelies & a happy Human Rights Day to all the South African readers.