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South African artist, educator and author
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 10, 20203 min read
“Organising opposites” (Post 36)
We are all feeling the “mind-adjusting” effects of the current pandemic in one way or another. We are all sitting with a list of videos...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 9, 20203 min read
“The choice is yours” (Post 35)
I am not really fond of doing pencil drawing; I simply prefer to do faster and more spontaneous expressions with colour. Deep down in my...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 8, 20203 min read
“To make an impact consider scale” (Post 34)
(This photograph is not good and the dark areas were not that dark.) Sometimes we encounter a benefactor who will say: “I like this...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 7, 20203 min read
“Smile with gusto at first attempts” (Post 33)
Often, we cringe when we look at our first efforts: our first oil painting, our first poem, our first published book, our first song, our...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 6, 20202 min read
“The arts require an audience – keep it in mind” (Post 32)
Yesterday on YouTube I listened to a personal story of struggle with regards to a book review that spun out of orbit, as it was told by a...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 4, 20201 min read
“You do not need a brush – just paint” (Post 31)
Somewhere along my art route I met a friend who was studying art and his art academy taught them to use a limited palette to enhance...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 4, 20202 min read
“Do not paint ice cream twice” (Post 30)
Twenty years ago, my square abstract painting entitled “Desert ice cream” was a sweet favourite of a couple who walked past my little...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 3, 20202 min read
“Help us to daily see the beauty of our daily bread” (Post 29)
I cleaned the kitchen. I started to prepare something for breakfast and then I saw the small musk melon (“spanspek”) I bought at the...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 2, 20202 min read
“The simple things bring peace” (Post 28)
A decade ago, an artist friend gave me a bag full of good quality acrylic paint in tubes; she suffered from allergic reactions whenever...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
Jun 1, 20202 min read
“The Tipping Point- referring to Malcolm Gladwell’s book” (Post 27)
Last night I listened to all three volumes of The Tipping Point by Gladwell that he narrates on YouTube. A friend asked me to become...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 31, 20203 min read
“Everyone is a hero” (Post 26)
During October 2014 I decided it was time to visit the old city again with my camera and I had a mission on my mind: I wanted to do...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 30, 20203 min read
“Time” (Post 25)
Time can be our friend and time can be our enemy too. When we are experiencing misery, time passes slowly and when we are having fun,...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 29, 20202 min read
“Line up your troubles” (Post 24)
I went for an early morning bicycle ride and I was thinking about the post I had to write. I felt I wanted to say something about lines....
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 28, 20202 min read
“We are surprised by the 'secrets' of perfection” (Post 23)
My eyes fell upon an old work of mine this morning and I recalled the unexpected impact it made on a friend who does not really like art....
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 27, 20202 min read
“Block out a few things” (Post 22)
More than three decades ago I was working on this still life study. It was one of those works which does not gel immediately and...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 26, 20202 min read
“Trains and boats and planes” (Post 21)
This morning as I was looking through my portfolio for an idea for this post, I saw my abstract oil painting called “Boat ride”, which I...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 25, 20202 min read
"Hope" (Post 20)
This morning I had a conversation with a friend and we were talking about the prolific things we as humans do – the good things – and how...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 24, 20202 min read
“It seems unfair but it is the truth of the finer things” (Post 19)
I was wondering about what to say today and then I recalled something which happened three decades ago. I made two art works which were...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 23, 20203 min read
“My art was stolen and copied – they paid me a compliment” (Post 18)
Each artist (part-timer, full-timer or “any-timer”) has a story to tell of how someone or a gallery left a smudge on their colourful...
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Pieter A. Pienaar
May 22, 20202 min read
"People like patterns" (Post 17)
About two decades ago I was exhibiting my abstractions at an arts festival in South Africa and in the caravan park where we stayed, the...
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