"South African" 2016, 11x15" watercolor on Fabriano
Friends & Family,
Mark Beukes, aka the South African, was diagnosed with MDS, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and will need a Bone Marrow Transplant. Yes, this is very serious; but it can be cured with a successful bone marrow transplant and a lot of will power. A bone marrow transplant is expensive and has a long recovery period (usually a full year) which is why a fund has been created to raise money and support to help cover some of his medical treatment and living expenses. Click to learn more & contribute to the fund.
THIS Thursday, July 28th, Picture Farm Gallery will be hosting an art auction to benefit Mark Beukes. There will be an amazing array of art on offer, over 30 local and international artists. Preview & bid on art before Thursday.
My contribution was a custom map of South Africa, which is where Mark is from, also why we call him the “South African”. I teamed up with Mark Firth to come up with some significant spots and memories. They hung out in the Northern suburbs in Sandton and Rosebank, near Johannesburg, but made regular forays into Hillbrow for the night clubs. Mark and Mark would meet at 2 am at the Hard Rock Cafe after their shifts. South African, as we all call him, attended Wits University, or University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Those years were spent working, smoking pot, and drinking Castle Lager to the album, Cold Fact, by Rodriguez. One can only imagine the kind of mischief those two must have gotten into back in the day! Ihope that this map celebrates that moment in time, and the South African, before we even met him. To this day I can’t hear Rodriguez, and not be magically transported back to my Diner days in 2001, and the South African leaning on the bar.
