Updated website

Please pay a visit to my art website: www.africanfineart.co.za

Its been updated with new available art on the Fresh off the Easel page.

Also remember to visit Lani's art page!

 

Currently I am hard at work on some new railway art for the Hobby Ex show on 4-7 March 2010.

Be sure to drop by and support us.

 

 

Phillip Steyn
African Ethnic and Wildlife Paintings
South African Steam Locomotive Paintings
Tel/Fax: 016 363 2215
Cell: 073 643 7788 / 078 544 2975
Web: www.africanfineart.co.za
Email: lou-jen@polka.co.za
Blog: www.phillipsteynart.blogspot.com
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Isicholo Style

Isicholo is the Zulu word for a married woman's headdress, and these were worn traditionally to indicate their married status, especially at important social and cultural events. The Isicholo hats are very distinctive, hand woven from cotton or rope or vegetable fiber, dyed with ochre and covered over a basket frame. These may measure as much as a meter across and are often decorated with intricate beadwork. Making these hats is a time consuming and laborious task.

Beads are the pride of the Zulu nation. Zulu beadwork encompasses a symbolic language that may include reprimands and warnings, messages of love, and encouragement. Interpreting beadwork is much like understanding the Zulu language when one has mastered the grammar and acquired a reasonable vocabulary; but meaning is often obscured by the wealth of proverbs and imagery. This also applies to beadwork, which combines art and linguistic logic.

This month Phillip Steyn presents a collection of his recent African portraits entitled "African Cultures".