Karin van Zyl-Davel, a well-known Hilton artist recently opened her studio gallery 'Art & Soul at Happy Hills on the R103. Moving to Hilton to focus on raising a family 11 years ago, Karin's daughter is now a photographer on a cruise liner and her son is experiencing life on a yacht.
Chatting with Karin is inspiring, as she shared her thoughts behind some of her work I sensed that this lady will create - even if her traditional art supplies were taken from her and she was left with scraps, Karin will turn those scraps into an item of interest or purpose.
We arrived to find Karin, comfortably seated on an old paint tin, sketching the portraits of two young girls. This task does not take too long and the results are impressive. When my own daughter noticed a sketch Karen had done of her son, placed beside a photograph of him, she duly remarked, 'He even looks more handsome in the drawing.'
Karin works with a broad range of mediums and has honed her skills since school days and through her studies of fine art in Pretoria. Whether Karen is drawing, sketching, sculpting, painting or bending wire her motivation comes from a desire to capture the mood or essence of the person, place or object.
Karin is a Christian who lives each day in passionate amazement at the beauty God has surrounded us with. Her works may be seen as reflections of the awesomeness of our world and if they at times seem a little 'in your face', this is an intentional reminder that we can draw strength from the simple things in life. Just stop and look.
'Art & Soul is a quaint and unusual space which Karin has filled with charm and interesting art produced by herself and other local artists. Take a 25 minute drive this weekend and soak up some of the countryside as well as Karin's creativity.