Art for our health-angels

KNYSNA NEWS – Knysna artist Anita du Preez has donated a diamond painting to the Knysna Provincial Hospital as a sign of her appreciation for the work they do.

Diamond painting is a combination of cross-stitch and paint-by-numbers where you apply thousands of tiny resin "diamonds" to a coded adhesive canvas to create the art piece.

Numbers on the coded canvas are applied to the corresponding 'gemstone'. The work by Du Preez comprises just under 80 000 diamond drill bits.

Completing one of these pieces is a massive undertaking for anyone, let alone someone paralysed from the waist down. But Du Preez took up the challenge when she was given a diamond art piece as a gift and tackled the project, which depicts a worn-out healthcare worker with angel wings.

While putting the piece together, she was reminded of the hardships faced by healthcare workers.

"I kept thinking how tough it must be to work as a healthcare worker in these times, with few people showing gratitude for what you do," Du Preez said. "Doctors, nurses, and all healthcare workers are all angels on the earth that are here to help us."

This motivated Du Preez to keep working hard at the piece, day in and day out for three weeks, sometimes until midnight.

The diamond art piece is made up of 78 580 diamond drills, and once completed Du Preez received a frame donated by a kind Sedgefield resident.

Driven by her gratitude towards healthcare workers, Du Preez elected to donate it to the Knysna Provincial Hospital. "I just wanted to spread some positivity in the world we live in at the moment," she said.

The diamond art piece was handed over to a highly appreciative hospital on Wednesday 5 January.

The artwork Anita du Preez created.