Some images of Jonkershoek Valley Nature reserve
A little bit of background:
“The name Jonkershoek is said to hail from the 17th century owner of one of the freeholds that Simon van der Stel issued in the valley: Jan Andriessen, who had been a bachelor midshipman, was also known as Jan de Jonkheer[2] and named his grant of land Vallei Jonkershoek.[1]” (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonkershoek_Nature_Reserve)
Jonkershoek Valley is very near to my heart for various reasons. It’s natural beauty and tranquility together with these majestic mountains make it a wonderful place to spend time in. It is a playground to many who run, hike, cycle in on the trails.
In 2021 following the Covid pandemic, I decided that I wanted to give some art lessons in the local informal settlement. The road that leads into the Valley has some farms and small holdings as well as the informal settlement that started forming around an old historic Trout Hatchery (which now only consists of ruins). It is here that I discovered a wonderful aftercare center where the children from the community can come every afternoon to get help with school work, extra help with maths and reading as well as a meal. They welcome volunteers who become part of the afternoon program by taking the kids to go cycling on the trails in the reserve, social workers come to give talks and I formed part of this group by giving art classes once a week. It didn’t take long to build relationship with the kids and it was clear to see that they had a strong sense of community. This community consists of historical wooden houses and also shacks made up of wood and corrugated sheeting. Their living conditions are below a healthy standard and many of the parents are without work. There is however minimal crime and gang activity which means that these kids are growing up in the most beautiful place and in a relatively peaceful environment. They are happy and the aftercare center is a beacon of light for them. A place where they feel at home, welcomed and can meet with they friends in a caring environment.
Documenting the a ‘sense of Home’ in Jonkershoek valley:
A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to capture this community and their unique environment and sense of home. In the past I have spent some time sketching with the kids and often sketching them as they worked. I recently heard about a type of illustration/sketching called Reportage Sketching – where you document events and life on location. Although these sketches were not done on location, I am interested in doing reportage sketching in the future in order to document a community. I see many benefits:
- It connects you to the people. A photograph can be taken in seconds and then you leave. Doing a drawing on location forces you to spend time there. You absorb the reality of the place, hearing what people say and tell you.
- It is more contemplative and grounding to draw on location.
- There is a shared vocabulary as people look over your shoulder – perhaps people who don’t speak the same language as you.
- I get to see the stories of peoples lives as they happen – not what you see in the news tonight.
There is a long story that goes with each sketch. Too many stories to mention here. Stories of people who are bitter because they feel the land should be their’s. They have an inner landscape of bitterness that is affecting the valley – riots occasionally take place (the top left sketch show’s the house of such a soul). This links with the question in my essay where I ask: “how does identity influence place.” Then there are beautiful souls who’s heart is to serve the community – making food, gathering people and loving the needy (the top right is a drawing of a person who chooses to live like this). Influencing place in a totally different way. Inner landscape affecting and influencing outer landscape – a concept that is part of my research.
Here are some drawings from my sketchbook of the Jonkershoek community:
From sketchbook to board:
Although my visual journal is where I love to work, I would like to take some of the work from my journal onto a canvas/board to create a larger artworks that can be hung on a wall. With the idea of a quilt as a symbol that encapsulates the idea of home to me personally, I played with a few MDF boards and put together various sizes with the concept of a patchwork quilt in mind. I painted them and glued some 300gms Fabriano paper onto it covered in watercolour ground. A light watercolour wash was then given on top of which I did some writing (only in one of the boxes). Here is the result before I started painting on them:
I also wanted to keep in mind that I want to incorporate copper into each artwork I create to symbolise our human need for love and belonging. Work in progress can be seen below:
Top right is the aftercare centre, middle left is Christene and her grand daughter, bottom is the inside of the aftercare centre showing the kids making art.
As mentioned earlier, I tried to come up with a solution to the fact that to capture home would be hard to do with just one artwork. Putting a few pieces together in this way, tells a story and allows me to hint at a patchwork quilt. I enjoy using the inside of the boxes as well as the outside. Again, this also points to the idea of home or rooms in our heart/inner home.