Guest Post : Tasneem Kamies on Her Exquisite Watercolour Portraits

Have you met Taz? She is one of the most inspired humans you may ever come across and, after chatting to her for a minute, you will realise that her natural enthusiasm is completely contagious. As well as managing KIN on Kloof, Taz is a skilled artist. Her compassion and her innate artistic talents have led her to paint highly emotive watercolour pieces and it's been a pleasure to view her work in several group exhibitions over the last year.

For our Mothers Day Window Exhibition, Taz painted portraits of each KIN staff member's (aka "Angels") mum (with two guest portraits of a treasured KIN designer's and customer's mum too!). Each of her portraits are below with a bit more info from the talented hands and heart behind these beautiful pieces:

Tasneem's mum

Fazlin's grandmum

Tshego's mum

Chantal's mum

What they are

Each portrait is done using Watercolour paint.

My colour palette is tones of blue and purple.

The sizes are 16x21cm. 

They are framed in white box frames.

Lindsay's mum

Melany's mum

Eliana's mum

Adelaide's mum

How they are created
My portraits are created from Watercolour washes, bleeds and drips. I try to let the technique guide me rather than the picture. Hence portraits are not photo-realistic reproductions, but rather inspired by the image or subject I'm working from. 

I vary from subtle tones to bold. And each portrait is completely unique. I tend to focus on expressions, mostly the eyes where I try to capture the essence of that person. Their emotion drawn from the eyes.

Aurelien's mum

Tamzin's mum

Mimi's mum

For this exhibition specifically 

Working on these portraits was a very unique experience for me. Each portrait looks completely different as I had a different experience with each. Its been so beautiful painting the Angels' mums. Painting someones portrait is always very personal and I'm very honoured by this opportunity and humbled by everyone allowing me into their families to paint their mother figures :) It made me feel more vulnerable in a sense and I do feel so much closer to everyone. It's weird. So thank you!

Tanya's mum

Nick and his mum

Our Mother's Day Window Exhibition

Tasneem, KIN on Kloof's lovely manager, has been hard at work after hours this past month to create an elegant Mother's Day window exhibition which is tugging at all our hearts. Knowing Taz's skill with portraiture, we couldn't wait to see what she would do given free reign over thirteen commissioned portraits.

All our mums together

Each KIN staff member sent Taz their favourite photo of their mum, and through her delicate layering of watercolour washes, Taz has captured the face, expression and spirit of each of these special ladies. It's a strange and wondrous feeling to look upon another's depiction of a face so well-known to you. Your eyes see all the shared history that's stored in your heart and you recognise the trials, joys, triumphs and sacrifices that you know have become a part of that person. It's adds to an artist's mystery that they can access those secrets, perhaps without quite realising what they discover. Somehow they intrinsically know how to really look, and they see into the world and all its layers. We feel so privileged to exhibit Taz's work at KIN and look forward to many more collaborations with such a sensitive and talented artist.

Taz with all the pieces coming together

*To have a closer look at each portrait click here, but best pop in to KIN on Kloof because there is nothing like seeing the original in person!

Braving the rain 

Signing her exhibit

Adding her flair and making our windows completely beautiful

Tips for Making Your Mum Feel Extra Special

To be honest, we know that there is no way to thank our mums for all that they have done and continue to do in our lives, but a day wholly-focused on showing her how much you appreciate what she does and how much she loves you is a good start.

To get you thinking, here are some ideas:

Follow the cliché - and go all out
Although we're all tempted to show how little we conform to clichés, in this case, we actually think they do create some of the most special-feeling moments, so play by the rules...

Rule #1
Re-group - get the siblings together. Even if you need to organise Skype calls from Morocco, putting in the effort and teaming up to show your love will make her feel extra special

Rule #2
Buy flowers - it's wonderful to be given something so beautiful and ephemeral. If you live far from your mum - organise for flowers to be delivered. Think about the flowers or colours she particularly likes and ask your florist to style it with those in mind.

Rule #3
Make her tea/coffee/hot chocolate/chai latte/rooibos - try and be there early enough to serve it to her in bed.

Rule #4
Make her breakfast - set the table beautifully (preferably in her favourite colours) and make her what she enjoys the most. If your culinary skills are shaky, then perhaps surprise her by having a picnic breakfast/brunch packed and ready to go and take her somewhere beautiful.

Rule #5
Write her a letter from the heart - mention the smallest things and explain how big a difference they make in your life and how much you appreciate them.

Celebrating Mothers Day 2014

“Mothers and their children are in a category all their own.
There's no bond so strong in the entire world.
No love so instantaneous and forgiving.”
Gail Tsukiyama, Dreaming Water

1. Ceramic Mugs by My China, Raw Oak Board by Moko, Pop-Up Card by Simple Intrigue

2. Leather Journal by Wessel Snyman Creative

3. Set of 3 Mini Prints by JA!

4. Sterling Silver Studs by Long Jean Silver

5. Hand Block-Printed Cushion Covers by Henri Kuikens

6. Wooden Scrabble Coasters by Mocholoco

7. Letterpress Thought Card by judith+kevin

8. A5 Notebook by Soil Design

9. Ceramic "Paper"boats by Rebecca Townsend

10. Ceramic Teacups & Saucer by Noleen Read; Ceramic Sunlight Soap Trinket Box & Bunny by Homebaked Ceramics at Chandler House; Fynbos & Resin Drops by Daya Heller; Bracelets, Earrings & Necklaces by A Bird Named Frank; Rings & Necklaces by Long Jean Silver; Necklaces by Starbright Girl, Rings by Famke, Porcelain Lovebird Necklace by Sarah Walters

KIN Pops Up at Pulp Kitchen in Willowbridge

Pulp Kitchen and KIN share a few essential core strengths - we are both passionate about advocating locally-made goods and supporting our local industries. Pulp Kitchen even boasts furniture made by local designers using recycled/reclaimed materials, and bamboo shelves which are 100% sustainable. When Pulp Kitchen approached us with the idea of a designer goods, in-store pop-up we loved the idea immediately. It feels natural for us to team up in this exciting collaboration as it's the coming-together of two businesses both besotted with South Africa and South African-made. After numerous chats and planning visits, you can now find selected KIN products at Pulp Kitchen in Willowbridge, Tyger Valley.

A lot of goodness packed and ready to go!

Our selection for Pulp Kitchen features mostly kitchen or home oriented items such as Chandler House cermaics, MOKO's raw oak boards, Sootcookie's Take-Away ceramic range, Yumyum's table runners and Alice May Design's Dippy Egg Boards. Pulp Kitchen has cultivated a relaxed yet contemporary atmosphere and it's wonderful to see how perfectly at home our products are in this thriving neighbourhood hub. 

Before

Eliana works her magic!

We love the convenience that our teaming-up offers customers - it's so easy to organise a coffee get-together to debate a mutual friend's wedding gift or to browse the display while waiting for a friend to join you for lunch. We also love the idea of the products taking customers completely by surprise when they next pop in for their morning smoothie.

Chandler House Pie-dish and Phrenology Vase

Our lovely selection of wooden boards and ceramics

Wooden Sushi Board and Rainbow by Moko, and Chandler House Phrenology Vase

MOKO's wide range of wooden boards

Life is Beautiful Tote bags by Soil Design

Wooden Scrabble Coasters by Mocholoco

Wooden boards by MOKO and ceramic vessels by Cabo

Fridge magnets and vehicle stickers by judith+kevin

Dippy egg board by Alice May, Africa boards by MOKO and wooden scrabble coasters by Mocholoco

Follow Pulp Kitchen on Facebook here, and on Twitter here

Willowbridge Shopping Centre Trading Hours:

Mon - Fri 7:00 - 18:00
Sat 8:00 - 18:00
Sun and public holidays 9:00 - 17:00

Guest Post : Inge Marais on Her Amazing Brass Kingfisher

Inge Marais of Inge Marias Jewellery tells us where she got the inspiration to make such a gorgeous brass, silver & copper Kingfisher for our World Earth Day window this month:

When KIN asked me to take part, I immediately thought "yes!"

Projects like this give you the freedom to explore without economic constraints – i.e. I'm not stressing about whether it will sell because it's for fun and for a good cause (Soil for Life).

For this project I chose to work with the Kingfisher. I chose this little guy because this colourful short little cocky bombshell reminds me of my mom. That's her in a nutshell : “ colourful short little cocky little bombshell”

I'm clearly indulging in being massively sentimental in this project – focusing on memories and family – taking time for myself and things I care about. The next aspect I used as inspiration is an item we collected in Venice – on the weekend that I got engaged. Its a jack in the box – stringy pully man – because of this man my brass king fisher will have flapping wings.

To start to design this guy I packed my bag with my mum-in-law’s bird book – bird watching is massive in that side of the family – stencil, pencils and home brewed coffee – set off to the park with my spaniel, Henk, on a perfect day to draw my design.

I'd like to say a big thanks to the KIN gang for letting me be part of this project – its been personal and indulgent and needs to be done from time to time.

The Making of MOKO's Amazing Birdhouses

Dagmar hard at work

When Dagmar Grimmelikhuysen of MOKO first presented her idea for an Earth Day window, we were immediately captivated by her sketches for the completely unique birdhouse structures that she wanted to create. We had no doubt that her natural enthusiasm and love for what she does would result in the most beautiful window exhibition. The fact that she wanted to donate all the proceeds the the Non-Profit Organisation, Soil for Life, made us glow. We were equally delighted as ten KIN designers eagerly joined the exhibition with their colourful flock of hand-made birds. 

Each structure was carefully planned and assembled by hand by Dagmar. Her designs not only focused on creating exquisite design objects, but also on functional spaces for the birds who are to make them their homes. Size, angle and placement of the openings, space within the structure and durable, interesting materials and ways to hang them were details thoughtfully considered.

Bird houses in the making

Each house was carefully designed, cut, assembled and finished by Dagmar

A Few of the finished houses : (pop into KIN on Kloof before 25th April 2014 to see more!)

Faceted Geometric Houses made by joining together individual pieces wood. They hand on thick strips of white leather.

House with birdie door, with a front perch for cloud-gazing.

Wooden cube house with a crochet cover made from sturdy out-door twine.

The "Weaver's Nest" organically-shaped house hang on a length of thick outdoor rope.

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