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Sabine Arendt-Stumpfe has been passionate about arts and crafts for as long as she can remember. Over the years, she has explored various creative forms, including sewing, doll-making, and painting. Her artistic journey spans 25 years, but it was three years ago, in Franskraal, that she rediscovered her love for abstract art.
Inspired by the vibrant colours and rich cultural heritage of Namibia, Sabine's work reflects a deep connection to both place and emotion. Drawing influence from artists such as Hundertwasser, Miró, and Kandinsky, her style is a fusion of bold colours, symbolic motifs, and expressive textures. Through her art, she invites viewers to explore the balance between reality and imagination, creating a visual experience that is both thought-provoking and engaging.
Hannatjie Barnard is a self-taught, part-time artist with eight years of experience. After exploring different art mediums, she discovered her passion for pencil drawings, focusing on animals and human faces. The fine details in her subjects fascinate her, driving her to capture the depth and emotions in every piece.
She credits Susan Wagener as her mentor, whose guidance continues to inspire and shape her artistic journey.
Before pursuing art, Hannatjie was a pre-primary teacher. She is a mother of three and a proud grandmother of three. Her grandchildren have been a special source of inspiration, leading her to focus on portrait drawings. She finds deep joy in capturing their expressions, reliving the emotions reflected in their eyes through her artwork.
Laurenda van Breda is a Botanical Fine Art Photographer specialising in Cyanotype Art, an historic, sun-developed printing process that uses UV light to create luminous blue imprints of Cape flora.
Her work is rooted in environmental education, conservation awareness, and celebrating the botanical heritage of our Cape Fynbos.
Each piece is created using her own botanical photography and carefully, ethically gathered plant specimens from the landscape, reflecting her commitment to both art and nature.
Her artwork is developed entirely by the sun, creating a distinctive visual connection to its place, season, and moment in time. Each piece is unique, a quiet resonance between nature, light, and the surrounding biodiversity.
Why did I choose Cyanotype as my art form?
Working with Cape Fynbos is my way of honouring a fragile, irreplaceable ecosystem. I am drawn to Cyanotype because it feels like a collaboration with nature itself. In sharing these sun-developed botanical artworks, I hope people will not only see the beauty of Fynbos but to also draw attention to the vulnerability of these plants.
Hester Coetzee is an artist who embraces the flow of creativity with every brushstroke. Her approach to art is intuitive, allowing each piece to unfold naturally as she paints.
Artistic Vision
Her work is a blend of colours, textures, and emotions. Hester’s subjects range from portraits and flowers to marine life, often weaving elements of surrealism into her compositions. Through her art, she tells stories of love, joy, peace, and light.
For Hester, each painting serves as a reminder of the unlimited potential inside all of us, showing that wonderful things happen when we let go and allow our true essence to emerge.
Dries and Susan started painting after retiring. Since then, they have sold hundreds of paintings. They enjoy working with oil paints but also like experimenting with other materials. Dries also does woodturning and mosaic work, while Susan teaches painting classes. They love sharing their talents with others.
Isabel-Anne is a self-taught artist with a long career in the business world, working as a management consultant, lecturer, and executive coach. She has a Master's in Clinical Psychology and another in Business Administration or Leadership. Despite her career in science and business, she has always felt like an artist at heart.
She grew up on a farm in the Free State as the only daughter among six brothers and has lived in Gauteng and Cape Town. For the past few years, she has been living her dream as a full-time artist in Franskraal, Western Cape.
Shared Visual Poetry
Though her early work focused on capturing realistic forms with precision, Isabel-Anne has evolved her style, working more freely in an impressionistic manner. She often uses a limited oil paint palette, drawing inspiration from Tonalism. To her, a good painting should evoke emotion, something a photograph might capture more realistically but without the depth of feeling she seeks to convey.
Isabel-Anne’s work mainly features landscapes with mountains, trees, valleys, and canola fields, often taking on accidental shapes. Clouds, in particular, fascinate her - they can be calm or dramatically swirling, depending on her creative mood.
She believes the story of a painting unfolds both in the artist’s creative process and in the viewer’s mind, which is why she often avoids giving titles to her works. For her, art is a shared visual poetry, where the viewer’s emotions and imagination create unique meaning for each piece.
Her invitation: "I encourage you to pause and experience the emotion of a piece. Listen to its story. If it speaks to you, pay attention to how it connects with your own feelings and thoughts."
Martha van der Westhuizen is an artist and photographer. She studied Graphic Design at Stellenbosch University and later worked as a graphic designer and photographer for an architectural firm.
Since the early 90s, she has explored various art forms, including traditional French framing and watercolour painting. From 2000 onwards, she has focused mainly on acrylic painting, creating still life studies that blend abstract and realism.
Photography has always been a great passion for Martha and remains an important part of her artistic expression. Her photography covers a range of subjects, including portraits, macro photography, and landscapes.
Connie Pienaar developed a love for beads at a young age. Growing up on a farm, she spent weekdays at boarding school and weekends at home. Her mother, a skilled creator, often made special outfits for her dolls. One particular memory stands out - a beautifully beaded wedding gown for her doll, which sparked Connie's lifelong passion for beadwork.
Though life took her in different directions, she rediscovered her love for beads in 2009. Over time, she explored various techniques, including stringing, looming, and bead weaving, before finding her true passion in bead embroidery. Today, Connie continues to create intricate and detailed beadwork, bringing her childhood dream to life.
Carine Fourie Badenhorst is a self-developed artist and writer who started her creative journey at a young age, long before YouTube tutorials were available. She learned through workshops, courses, and trial-and-error, shaping her own unique style.
Although she does not consider herself a professional artist, some of her artworks have been sold internationally to individuals and galleries.
As a writer, Carine spent eight years as an editorial writer before moving into self-publishing.
Being part of the Franskraal Art Route has given her the opportunity to explore new art genres for every Open Studio event.
She also offers "Kreativ Therapi" from her home, providing a holistic space for people to connect with their inner sanctuary through creativity.
Elmarie Stofberg is a creative at heart, constantly inspired to create with words, visuals, or concepts. Her passion for words led her to earn a BA degree in languages and a master's degree in Linguistics. In 2021, she released her debut collection of poems featuring ekphrastic verses, which remains one of her proudest achievements.
Although she always dreamed of painting, Elmarie only began exploring this art form in 2010 during a chance painting lesson at an art workshop. From that moment, she embraced painting wholeheartedly, constantly learning and growing as an artist. Today, her work is displayed in various galleries, and she often participates in group exhibitions.
Elmarie’s art is inspired by finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. She deconstructs objects, landscapes, and emotions into pure form and color. Her goal is to inspire viewers to see the beauty in everyday things and to appreciate the world around them in a new way.
She works in mixed media, including acrylic paint, charcoal, pastels, graphite, colored pencils, and collage. Her process often incorporates natural materials like grass, seeds, leaves, sticks, or stones from the environment that inspires her work.
Elmarie’s passion for creativity and her unique perspective make her art a celebration of the beauty found in unexpected places.
Shirley Collings is a Creative Digital Designer, Canva Specialist, and workshop host who brings organisation and imagination together through beautifully crafted digital planners, journals, stickers, and creative printable kits. As the founder of The Planneri, she designs paper-friendly downloads that make planning feel playful and inspiring.
She’s also a passionate Canva educator, offering demos, workshops, and personalised 1:1 training to help beginners, creatives, and small business owners unlock the power of digital design.
Shirley provides professional digital design services—ranging from posters and branding elements to social media graphics and promotional layouts—and showcases a curated selection of her products at local creative events such as the Franskraal Art Route.
Canva Demo – 22 December (10h00–11h00) Fee R50 p.p
Pop in at Die Huisie during the Franskraal Art Route to browse and purchase a limited range of The Planneri’s printable creations.
Expect:
Visit me at Die Huisie to book the Canva Demo (essential) and to reserve your spot for a 2026 1:1 Canva Session
Lizzybean
Handmade by Lizzybean is the creative craft studio of Lizzy, a leather artisan who specialises in unique, custom-made handbags, toiletry bags, make-up bags, and a range of bespoke leather goods. Every item is individually designed and handcrafted to meet each client’s personal style, needs, and specifications. Working exclusively with 100% real leather, Lizzy produces once-off pieces that celebrate quality, durability, and originality. Based in the seaside village of Franskraal, her work reflects a passion for slow-made craftsmanship and timeless design.
Jan is a self-taught South African artist whose work is deeply inspired by a lifetime spent close to nature. Originally from KwaZulu-Natal, he has been painting full-time since 2007 and has exhibited widely, with his artworks featured in boardrooms and private collections both locally and abroad.
Guided by years of involvement in conservation, Jan’s paintings celebrate the richness and beauty of our natural heritage. Rather than striving for photographic realism, he focuses on capturing those fleeting, powerful moments in nature that evoke emotion, depth, and a sense of calm. His work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the wonder of the world around them.
If you'd like a shorter, longer, or more poetic version, I can refine it further!
"I paint for the calmness and challenge to create. Rather than explaining verbally, I'd like for my work to form its own impressions on those who observe." - Jan Kotze
