AmazeBall reporting: My eventful Friday morning… full of excitement, acceptance AAAAAANNND Satisfaction of cause.

Wanna know why??? ….

I’ll DEFINITELY tell you all…coz it’s crying to come out! I went to 3 schools!!!!! And guess what each and every art and/or design teacher said to me….they firstly giggled about our name haha…but said it was relevant, funny and smart. They liked it a lot which was a huge plus from get go! All three teachers I spoke to were so friendly and open to what I thought and said. I loved feeling like their equal… Caren from Pinelands High was actually telling me about a project she does with students that is the same as what we are doing, re using and knitting to create art. She said she’d perhaps call us next year to go in and speak to the students, which is exciting for us as we would love to. The opportunity would be great and would certainly bring awareness of surface design and design in general… especially for CPUT and the Design Department.

After going to Pinelands High School, I was so motivated, energized and VERY eager to meet more teachers and inspire them into being a part of this project.  So….i rushed to my car and drove off to the next stop, Rondebosch Boys High School where I walked in and met the most jolly and pleasant receptionist who assisted me and called for the art teacher, Hussain Essop, who is a graduate in fine art and design from UCT. I saw a chair he carved which was very unique in the classroom of the matriculants. He will actually be displaying his work in Grahams town next year which is truly exciting!!! Read up on him and his work, I’m sure you will love it….he does… I DO!! As we sat, He unfortunately told me that this is their last year teaching art at the school which is truly unfortunate but they do have their reasons and we respect that. He was an amazing artist and showed me his as well as the students work which was truly inspiring as it was what we as surface design students do. They also did furniture which is part of industrial design. The teacher showed me all the tables, chairs and shelves the students designed, created and invented themselves. This was truly amazing as it was university quality done by matriculants. This showed me how much talent this group of boys had and how engaged they were with their interest and passion in art as well as design. This made the trip to this school even more relevant and important as I would love to see further work by these amazing students. After being allowed to leave a ball and booklets at the school by the art teacher, I was still positive yet more inspired by what I saw. I walked out with a BIG smile on my face, got in my car and drove straight to the next school.

I chose to go to Livingston High School, the school that many designers I know matriculated at. I walked in and was helped by the security to find the office, where a bubbly and vibrant secretary called the art teacher. The art teacher, Mr. S. Davids, was a sweet and humble man with great talent. He showed me the work of his students as well as his own which was amazing! He is truly gifted in all mediums from pen to paint to TEABAGS!!!!! The work truly amazed me yet again. He showed me work done by a student he had taught, Tasneem Achmat, whose work was to be thrown away…BUT he saved it and kept this piece to use to store artwork done by students in his class. It is a clear sight of surface design, art and talent!!! This artwork stood out for me immediately as I entered his art class. What do you see? Think? Feel? …when you see this art.

The teachers I had met had such talent!!!!! I hope to nurture my gift and develop it to the standard I have seen. I have encouraged him to sell his work and allow it to be viewed in galleries all over Cape Town. He was eager to so hopefully soon! SO…look out for his work!!!! While chatting, he was thinking about his grade 8 project he is working with them on and is using surface design into it as well as our project. I can’t wait to hear from him about the project and see the outcomes! It will be amazing to see! He told me he loves art as well as design but is only an art teacher. But after talking about it, I saw that he knows that art and design can be mixed and they are very much alike… 

This was so inspirational for me as I met three art and design teachers who said they could see the passion I have for the subject I am studying and promoting awareness of which felt good to know they could see how strongly I feel about surface design and how passionate I am of the project I am currently doing…BIGBALLS! I hope to go to more schools this week and speak to more teachers and students regarding art and design…surface design! I’ll keep you all posted!

…Keep Rolling