According to Garstman, who moved to Knysna in 1997, her interest in painting really took off once she moved to Knysna and she has been exhibiting her works locally ever since.
"I started painting as a hobby in watercolours and have since found my passion in oils," said Garstman. Besides following her natural artistic instincts, Garstman has over the years completed art courses with Eben Geldenhys, Leon Vermeulen, Dale Elliott, British Barry Rayboult and the French artist Ben Brotheton.
Johnson-Biddle has had her work exhibited in various galleries, including the William Humphries Art Gallery (Kimberley), Olievenhuis Art Museum (Bloemfontein), Strydom Art Gallery (George), Brian Wiles Art Gallery (Leisure Isle, Knysna) as well as the Knysna Art Gallery. She has had the pleasure of being instructed in art by Jan Schutte, Harvey Rothschild, Lindsay Page, Marion Weymouth and Dale Elliot and also studied ceramics with Ina Shein.
The third exhibitor, Davis is no newcomer to the creative world as he has worked as a freelance designer, illustrator and cartoonist for the past twenty-five years during which time he continued to paint as a hobby, working particularly in acrylics and watercolours, but also in oils and pastels.
"My paintings reflect my delight in the rich complexity of the visual world and my eye for detail. A pair of weathered, peeling window shutters has, for me, all of the appeal of an abstract expressionist work, with colours and textures that are full of surprises," explained Davis.
He is particularly drawn to manmade subjects that have decayed with time and the elements, the everyday object easily overlooked by a busy world, a dilapidated house in the Karoo or a battered boat on the Knysna mud flats.
According to Davis this exhibition, View Points 2, features some new ideas and directions as he constantly looks for fresh approaches and challenging techniques. "The use of the palette knife as well as a bolder, almost abstract use of colour, takes me a little way out of my usual realistic style, while remaining strongly focused on the visual world. There are also some figure studies, works done with my life-drawing group in the Crags near Plettenberg Bay," concluded Davis.
View Points 2 opened at the Knysna Art Gallery, The Old Gaol, Queen Street, Knysna on Monday, January 7 and will be open until Febraury 2.
This acrylic painting by Jonathan Davis depicts the artist's attraction to manmade subjects that have decayed with time and the elements.
