AMSTERDAM/INTERVIEWING CHANTEL FRANKFORT CLARYS
Tuesday, July 04, 2017Hearts ‘n Blooms by Chantel
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| Who am I to you-Anna/Oil paint on canvas,SummerShow Amsterdam Noord 2016 |
Amsterdam is a city full of life and people from all around the world. Every day you get to know interesting individuals, lovely personalities and great talents. I got the chance to meet Chantel while working in a clothing store a while ago. In our common breaks, I noticed that she had a great taste. She used to carry a book that will draw your attention. Despite the tiredness of the day, she would find some space and time to relax and enjoy her book. A bit later I discovered that she is also a great talent in painting. The first painting that drew my attention was a heart, a very detailed drawing that differed from what I'd ever come across.I frequently admired Chantel's work and now I grabbed the chance to introduce her work to you. As a very gentle personality, she gladly accepted the proposal of Les Culturelles to give an interview and introduce us to her world.
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Dad in Koringberg/Watercolour, Part of 30 Days of Watercolour Challenge
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Hi, everyone! I am Chantel Frankfort Clarys, born in a very small town in South-Africa.
I started taking drawing seriously at the age of 7 and by the age of 11, I started taking private art classes and of course, I fell in love with the medium.
Although I am constantly experimenting with new mediums and forms of art, including textile art, printing and yarn art, I always seem to come back to painting.
I always find myself completely in awe of the possibility to portray so much emotion, feeling, reality as well as a sense of surrealism by using something as simple as paint and a brush.I totally fell in love with the oilpaint medium.
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Zola (Chantel's cat)/Painting-Graphite putty on Fabriano paper
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When did you start getting involved more in art?
In 2010, I au paired in Den Haag for a year. I did not only fall in love with the country and the abundance of art that it brings, but also with a Dutch guy whom I had to wait to finish his study before I could move to the Netherlands permanently.In the 4 years of waiting in South-Africa, I started my own handmade business with my mum, Clari Design. We made handmade accessories. This included hand painted jewellery and screen-printed products. My mum was responsible for all the crochet items and is still known as the Clari Crochet Queen. It was one of the best times of my life, working alongside my mum.
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Boy with fish/Oil paint on canvas
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Just before moving to the Netherlands in 2015, I had the privilege to be an art teacher for a year at the same art school I received my lessons, Die Coetzee Ateljee.I gave art classes for children between the ages 6 – 18 years. Teaching art and working with children taught me so much, not only about art but about my passion for it and people. I felt extremely lucky working alongside someone who has been my teacher and mentor from the age of 11. I definitely still have the same dream for the Netherlands.
A year later, I opened a shop in the art school, which was basically merged the art shop and Clari Design, a wonderful experience but my heart always longed to do more art.
When did you start "working" on human heart?
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| Mum (Crochet Queen)/Watercolour painting/Part of 30days of Watercolour Challenge |
A beautiful opportunity arose for my art career to officially start off just 3 months before I left for the Netherlands.I had the chance working as the assistant of a well –known art curator in South-Africa, Sandra Hanekom. I assisted her with her solo exhibition, but also with a very big exhibition, celebrating the 100 year anniversary of one of South Africa’s most well-known Afrikaans Newspapers, Die Burger.
In total 50 South-African artists were chosen to take part in the exhibition and I was one of them. Each artist received an event/subject covered by the newspaper in the last century as an inspiration for the artwork.
I received the 3 big viruses that hit South –Africa over the last century, namely the Spanish Flu (1918), HIV Aids (1981) and Ebola (2014). I decided on making 3 human hearts, as I believe that even though lots of different parts of the body gets affected by these sicknesses, the heart gets affected most. Emotionally the hearts of the victims, as well as their loved ones, get attacked severely. This is definitely one the highlights of my art career so far, not only for being able to exhibit but also having the opportunity to meet so many wonderful artists and people along the way.
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Open heart Painting/Watercolour
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Virus -3D Human Heart Series of 3/ Tapestry/ Wool
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Could you share with us any other important moments of your career until now?
A few weeks after Die Burger 100 Jaar exhibition, I moved to Amsterdam permanently and immediately had the chance to enter into the first ever SummerShow Amsterdam Noord 2015.After just being here for a few weeks, my first painting was exhibited at the Summer Show at Nieuw Dakota.During 2015 I had to work, but at the same time, I had to pursue my art part time. To keep myself motivated, I started doing 30-day challenges on Instagram. I started with the 30days of being inspired by artworks in the Rijksmuseum and watercolour challenge followed.
We can see that you post a lot of your work in your social media accounts, are you currently preparing something for the public?
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| Namib Desert/Oil paint on canvas,SummerShow Amsterdam Noord 2017 |
2016 was a good year for me I would say as I took part in another exhibition in South- Africa, called 'Break the Spell', curated by Louis Jansen van Vuuren where I also made tapestry hearts. Also this year I got into the Summer Show Amsterdam Noord for the second time.I also collaborated with a wonderful young entrepreneur, Imana, who owns a pop-up shop, where she sold her own clothing label.i I assisted her in making clothing and also sold some of my art prints in her shop.
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| Green Protea/Watercolour on Paper |
I am currently opening my studio to showcase some of my recent watercolour paintings of hearts and flowers under the title, Hearts ‘n Blooms.This basically means that until the 16th of July anyone is welcome to come to my studio and have a look around.
Originals, as well as prints, will be for purchase, but people are also welcome to bring their sketchbook, paints and pencils with and create with me or simply enjoy a cup of coffee.
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| Hand/Watercolour |
If someone is interested in seeing your work how can they get in contact with you?
Taking into consideration that I also have a part time job, there will only be certain time slots in which my studio will be open.
I suggest that anyone interested in coming please contact me first, via Instagram or Facebook. Then I can make 100% sure I am home and have the coffee ready.
The available times will be as follows:
Mondays: 9:00 – 18:00
Tuesdays: 9:00 – 13:00
Thursdays: 9:00 – 13:00
Friday (7 July ’17) : 14:00 – 18:00
(14 July ’17): 9:00 – 18:00
Saturdays: 10:30 – 17:00
Sundays : 15:00 – 18:00
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| Psalms 42:7/Painting and Sketching (watercolour,coloured pencils,soft pastel) |
We found out that you will be also participating at the Summer Show in Amsterdam Noord, could you tell us a bit more about that?
Apart from my open studio event, one of my oil paintings will also be featuring in this year’s SummerShow Amsterdam Noord, held by Nieuw Dakota and Francisboeskeprojects.
This exhibition will run until the 30th of July, where you can vote for your favourite artwork. The artist who receives the public price at the end of the exhibition will have the opportunity to exhibit along with the jury winner at the end of the year.
You can contact me on Facebook and Instagram but also can visit my studio at the address below. Fell free to drop me a message to arrange a visit, I will gladly be happy to meet you and show you my work.
Doventelstraat 1H, 1031 VT, Amsterdam
For the last few months, apart from working on more watercolour paintings, I have been doing some commissions and I am currently working on an exhibition focusing on people from different cultures, which will hopefully take place in the beginning of next year. So, stay tuned and I will keep you updated!
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Tulips/Watercolour on Paper
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You can visit Nieuw Dakota for more info about the Summer Show Amsterdam Noord, 2017 edition. Free admission for the public. Do not miss the chance to attend! We will be there definitely!
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