WELCOME TO MY WORLD: VISUAL ARTS, MAKING, CREATIVE ECONOMY, STRATEGISING, CRITICAL THINKING, DEBATING AND MORE…….

Thank you for having a look at my website – whether your interest is my artworks, consulting work or research I appreciate that you have taken the time to come to this site. I have set up this blog page for all the extras…extra ideas, extra concept development, extra thoughts.
Final concepts do not begin neat and tidy ready for a website but are started through the seed of a concept which then is influenced by others and develops. The seeds are very important to me, and I write these blogs inviting you to engage – to argue with what I say or take the ideas further. I intend writing atleast one blog a month, hopefully more!

Our creative economy in South Africa is an inspirational space, no matter which perspective you view it from. That is why I have set up this website acknowledging all my areas of interests and work in this sector. So, what is it about these areas of work that appeals to me?

1. VISUAL ARTIST: Oh, I love making! I love the process of sketching and playing with ideas. I love visually looking at my ideas and trying to interpret them – learning myself and my context. This is by far the most isolating of the four areas I work in. It is an isolation that I love – alone…me, my thoughts, and my paper! Often by the time the viewer experiences the work they see the cleaned-up version – whether on a website, a gallery, or an art fair the work stands alone – separate from the artist and the ‘mess’ that created the work. It is a mess in 2 ways – firstly the physical mess of studio spaces and secondly the psychological mess of working through ideas. I am hoping to share a bit of that ‘mess’ through this blog.

2. RESEARCH: There is not enough research being done on the creative economy of South Africa. I realised this when I was working on my MBA and people from the sector started calling me a specialist (when I was still a pip squeak when it comes to research). The pool of research was (and still is) so limited especially when looking into business, creative entrepreneurship, and economic impact. The introduction of SACO (The South African Cultural Observatory) has been wonderful for the sector, but it is still limited. The lack of sufficient research means that we cannot pull on facts and reputable information as leverage and credibility when proposing the value of the development of the creative economy in South Africa. This makes it really important to contribute towards the research that is available and to motivate for more research to be done. On this blog I will ask for inputs to create surveys, share research I am working on and hopefully offer a platform where you can contribute to what research is needed for the development of our creative economy.

3. LECTURING: Why aren’t all our art schools at tertiary level (no matter which discipline within the creative economy) offering creative entrepreneurship courses? I cannot understand this when most graduates will be working for themselves, opening, or working within micro businesses. A course on creative entrepreneurship would be hugely beneficial. I have hosted many adult workshops with creatives on entrepreneurship, and they have never been taught even the basics of business. If creative entrepreneurship was part of tertiary training, it could have 2 positive impacts: firstly, creatives who have the opportunity to attend tertiary training can start thinking more about how to generate an income and be less funding dependent; secondly organisations offering this training will have more chance to meet the demand as they will not have to be training all tertiary graduates too. There could be consideration for more pitching opportunities, seed funding and sustainability discussions. On this blog I will share creative entrepreneurship thoughts as well as basic information for creatives to start grappling with what it means to generate an income within the creative economy.

4. CONSULTANT: Alongside the need for further research there is also a need for more strategic and critical thinking that takes into consideration the networks, partnerships and macro development of the creative economy while never losing sight of the micro nature of the sector. The creative economy is a flat model where micro enterprises and freelancers work alongside one another with varying specialities and skills. You cannot develop this sector if your approach is a top-down growth strategy focussed on high profits and expansions – you will fail! How can we – the creative and cultural sector – continue getting frustrated with government and corporate for bringing this approach when they are simply implementing how their structures work. We must be at the table when strategic thinking and planning is taking place so we can share insights, research, and knowledge for the strategies to be relevant to how we work. I hope to share some ideas on this blog to stimulate discussion.

So, there you have it – 4 sections with very different focal areas but intertwined in a way that only fellow creatives will understand! Please send me your ideas, comment and engage no matter what your questions are – that is what is needed so desperately.