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!