Baardskeerdersbos Art Route – creativity in a curious place

Since 2008 a group of artists, who have pioneered a creative lifestyle in this tiny unpretentious hamlet, have opened up their houses and studios to share their creativity with art lovers. The Baardskeerdersbos Art Route is becoming legendary and it flourishes over two weekends a year, in spring and autumn.

The 18 - 19 April 2020 Baardskeerdersbos Art Route has been cancelled
in line with the cancellation of social gathering globally due to the COVID -19 pandemic.
We are taking public safety and personal safety seriously and heeding the President’s recommendations to minimise social contact.
We look forward to seeing you next time and we thank you for all the support over the years.
Don’t forget to support artists during these lean times.
Watch this space for virtual sharing and further developments.

Next planned art route 12 - 13 September 2020
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Amanda Jephson

Amanda (no. 14 on the map) works in oils and graphic mediums as well as etching and other printmaking techniques. Her work includes landscapes, animals, portraits and conceptual still lives, some semi abstract, some more representational, all drawn from her immediate surroundings and unified in style by a strong sense of colour and form. …

Brenda Parker

Using traditional jewellery-making techniques, Brenda (no. 16 on the map) produces one of a kind jewellery which combines her love of the ‘angelic whiteness’ of Silver and the inspiration of the natural beauty surrounding her. This results in pure simplified forms that are contemporary in style but which translate into accessible, wearable pieces.
Her jewellery incorporates bold designs as well as more delicate and organic elements that emulate things she sees in nature.…

Eva Gilliam

Eva was born in California and raised in Texas and New York City in a family of musicians and visual artists. Her undergraduate studies in Anthropology inspired her to take the first opportunity to work overseas, and in 2005 moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work for the United Nations peacekeeping mission as a journalist and radio producer.
Her work for her Master’s degree earned her the chancellor’s award as best masters student 2006 and was selected to be exhibited at the AVA Gallery in Cape Town.

Since leaving Cape Town, Coleen has joined forces with Annalie Theunissen of Art-i-Kapa, and been involved with the training of leadership programs in craft production and project managing skills programs for the Overberg region.…

Ivan Trollip

Ivan (No. 5 on the map) has enjoyed a rapid rise in popularity since he began painting full time in 1991. Years of practical experience as a landscape artist, has given him the wonderful sense of perspective and composition found in all his oil and acrylic works. His subjects range from wildlife to abstract and florals, for which he is best known. His love of the wild and his intimate knowledge of our local fauna and flora is combined with his own creative personality, resulting in a joyous celebration of colour, diversity and harmony in all his works.…

Jan Vingerhoets

Jan (no. 19 on the map) uses almost entirely discarded materials, salvaged or donated, and does all humanly possible to finish pieces with natural paints and oils, or with chemical finishes that are diverted from landfills. He works entirely off-grid, powering his welder and other equipment with his self-designed wood-gasifier (which converts alien wood into gas as petrol replacement in a generator) and other alternative sources of energy.…

Joshua Miles

Joshua Miles (No. 9 on the map) studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at UCT where he received the Michaelis Prize in his 4th year for best student. His influences in woodcuts started at a young age seeing his aunt Elsa Miles, artist and art historian, doing woodcuts and later studying under Cecil Skotness at UCT. He has also been intrigued by the impressionists style of loose mark making and by the Japanese tradition in woodcuts.…

Kali van der Merwe

Kali’s (No. 13 on the map) main artistic explorations take place in the dark, using the night as her photographic darkroom. She utilises a technique called “light painting” which blurs the boundaries between painting and photography. This enables her image capture to become an encounter taking place over a long period of time. Kali explains, she “searches for the soul of form with light”. …

Liz Van Den Berg

Finding inspiration in the surrounding beauty and seaside, Liz (no. 7 on the map) has returned to doing her own work. This after completing a degree in Fine Art from Unisa, 6 years in mural and pediment restoration with Wijn & Tijn Restoration in Cape Town and 15 years in the film industry as a scenic artist working all over the world especially Mexico, Malaysia and Australia. …

Niel Jonker

Jonker (no. 11 on the map) has been painting direct from the landscape for almost a decade, especially the South Western Cape, which he came to love while growing up in the Klein Karoo. Today Niel works prolifically both as painter and figurative sculptor. He has been commissioned to create public monument work and is collected locally and internationally.…

Philip John

Philip (no. 18 on the map) discovered that the medium of cow dung was abundant in the area and began working with it as a sculptural material. Dung seems to bring elemental emotions and issues to the surface, including much humour. He soon felt a need to sensitise himself to colour, line, paper, paint, ink, and began working two dimensionally as well.…

Guest artists

The Baardskeerdersbos Art Route always exhibits guest artists along with the core group of artists who live in the area. This enriches the experience, adding diversity and variety. We have and continue to host established artists of a professional and accomplished calibre as well as artists who are just starting out or returning to their creativity and exercising their exhibition wings. Come fly with us ……

Workshops and Special Events

To add to your knowledge, skills and enjoyment, the Baardskeerdersbos Art Route has very special events taking place over the weekend of the route.

Come engage, learn, feast, celebrate ……