About
My name is Corinne Erasmus, and I'm a full-time artist based just outside Cape Town. The Happy Struggling Artist is a celebration of South Africa's incredibly diverse wildlife, specialising in unique art, gifts and collectables that encapsulate the unique spirit that this amazing country is known and loved for.
I am passionate about my family, nature, equality and doing what you love with great heart. I proudly believe that this is reflected in all aspects of my work and business.
When I was a little girl, I was constantly drawing. Ponies and pretty birds and doggies and cats.
I. LOVED. It.
Looking back, what surprises me is that I never even once dreamt of becoming an artist. Not even when I was lost in childish imagination, removed from The Grown-up World that demands realistic career choices that offer the promise of a job that will pay the bills. I wanted to be a mermaid. But never an artist...
The journey to becoming The Happy Struggling Artist has been anything but boring. A rollercoaster-road-that-never-ends, dotted with the constant struggle to find balance. Balance between work and home. Balance between focusing on deadlines and long-term growth. Balance between finding the time to do it yourself and the money to outsource an aspect of your business. Balance between stability and chasing a dream. Balance between doing what makes you happy and turning that into something that puts bread on the table.
On the days that I feel the delicate balance faltering (and the struggle outweighing the happy), I just paint myself a tail and go for a swim until things look better... So I got to be a mermaid after all!
EXHIBITIONS & PROFESSIONAL ACCOLADES:
- Honourable Mention – "Expressions of Hope" international online exhibition & competition, Watercolor Art Southern Africa, 2021
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Shortlisted Finalist - Innibos Craft Awards, 2021
- "Summer Colours" Group Exhibition – Bright Street Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa, 2021
- "Tides of Talent" Group Exhibition - Fine Art Gallery, Swakopmund, Namibia, 2020
- "Call of the Wild" Group Exhibition - Bright Street Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa, 2019
- "African Colours" Group Exhibition - Bright Street Gallery, Somerset West, South Africa, 2018
- "Wildlife in Watercolour & Pen" Solo Exhibition - William Humphrey's National Art Gallery, Kimberley, South Africa, 2016
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