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Through My Eyes

Through My Eyes

Author: Kasia Yoko
Date: 2014-07-18
There have been so many celebrations happening around me in the last couple of weeks, birthdays, anniversaries, launches and a wedding or two.

I am always undecided what to buy a friend or an acquaintance for that special occasion and most times I end up with some bonehead item from a major chain store that does not necessarily represent what I had in mind and to be honest I am not always proud of my purchase, fearing the worst - duplication.

The most creative I get is with my golfer friends who usually receive a golf shirt from my favourite golf club or a bottle of booze depending on their preference. Most often I feel the pressure of bringing gifts that do not necessarily represent the true reflection of my thought behind the gift that they deserve.

So recently while trying to think of something meaningful to buy my friend Wim for his birthday I thought of my other cool friend and the fantastically talented artist, Darren Aiken.

Long ago Darren spoke of his need to pay the bond and create a lucrative career in art. He spoke of the global economic crisis and how artists needed to adjust their trade to keep the art business afloat.

He spoke of producing smaller pieces of art that were still collector's items but not necessarily investment pieces. He embarked on a creative path that took him on a picturesque African journey through his alter ego 'Ntshebe'.

Needless to say a phone call to Darren and a quick drive to Umdloti was all it took to acquire an art piece that was fun, beautiful and likable and guess what? My friend Wim liked it a lot.

Its not that I don't think stuff that you find in big major chain stores is bad or that there is something wrong with buying 'Made in China' items with no shelf life. Its just that by supporting my friend Darren I don't just make the birthday boy happy, I am also supporting local talent and I am helping Darren pay his rent and stay in Umdloti, where he belongs.

Shot Darren for the super cool gift and if you would like to support Darren or like me are looking for a fantastically original gift idea call the artist known as 'Ntshebe', because of his unusual beard, on 082 787 2470.