Wisdom for the New Year from Women

 

With the start of the new year comes that time-honoured tradition - New Year's resolutions, when we are strong in our resolve to make the new year better, more successful, more exciting. In wishing you an abundant 2013, I would like to share some inspiring words of wisdom from women who ruled Hollywood once upon a time.

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labour, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life.  The money is the gravy" - Bette Davis

"The river is constantly turning and bending and you never know where it's going to go and where you'll wind up. Following the bend in the river and staying on your own path means that you are on the right track.  Don't let anyone deter you from that" - Eartha Kitt

"I decided, very early on, just to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped.  Most of the time it just happened to me without my ever seeking it." - Audrey Hepburn 

"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be prooud of that." -Lauren Bacall

"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery.  Its better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe.  Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." - Sophia Loren

 

 

Best wishes - may 2013 be your best year yet!

Doreen Pfeiffer 

 

 

Do you have a best friend?

Best friends forever? if you have a very close bond with one friend, you are very lucky, according to researchers.

Here is why a very close friendship bond (not just a few "good friends") is so good for you ....

Experts from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre says it may not be so great for your health to just have just lots of close girlfriends.

According to their research, people who have a true "best friend" have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in their bodies. Too  many stress hormones can make us feel unhappy and can also contribute to disease.

"One of the interesting things about these findings is that it's not just any friend, it's the best friend" - said the study's lead author.  Though the study looked at children, experts believe there could be some applications to adults, too.

Johnny Depp .... aaahhhh ..

Some Hollywood careers are built on smart choices.  Last year Johnny Depp earned $75 million - a wealth and fame he achieved by making some unusual choices in his career.

Born John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963 - he is an American actor, producer and musician.  

 

He gained fame at a young age and refused to take the obvious path.  After the TV show 21 Jump Street, he chose to work with offbeat directors like Tim Burton and John Waters, rather than become an action star. 

Johnny turned to more challenging roles such as the title character of Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

His insistence on making each role his own paid off with 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean when Depp created Captain Jack Sparrow's character to become as important to Disney as Peter Pan.  

Depp has been nominated for top awards many times, winning the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for Sweeney Todd and from the Screen Actors Guild for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

He has been twice named as the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine in 2003 and 2009.  Depp has been listed in the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records as the highest paid actor, with $75 million. 

We just love having him in the gallery at all times!

Alf Kumalo - photo journalist

Alfred Dukuza Mangaliso Kumalo was born on September 5th 1930. At an early age, he developed an interest in drawing which would later lead him to become a photographer with a highly discerning eye. Kumalo started photography as a way of freezing moments in time for visuals he wanted to draw and then, “I was gripped by the drama of the visual impact of photography,” he says of his visual stray into the world of photography from drawing. In 1951 as a freelancer for Bantu World, he began some serious photography and has never looked back. Amongst the publications that have benefited from his work are: Drum, Rand Daily Mail, Golden City Post, The Star, New York Times, Newsweek and Time Magazines.

Background Politically, Kumalo witnessed through the lenses of the camera such milestones as the Women’s March in 1956 led by Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph; the Treason and Rivonia trial which featured some of South Africa’s highly-known political activists such as Mandela, Sisulu and Govan Mbeki; Sharpeville massacre; Soweto uprisings; the banning of Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Mandela and younger leaders such as Steven Biko, Mamphele Ramphele; the first inauguration in 1994,and the ten years of democracy celebration. Kumalo documented and owns exclusive photographs of Nosekeni Mandela, the mother of South Africa’s most famous prisoner, who died in 1965, a year after the sentencing of her son to life imprisonment. He also covered former President Thabo Mbeki from the early seventies in Swaziland, Mozambique and other countries. Other political figures that Kumalo has photographed include Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Robert Resha, Barney Pityana, Chris Hani, Robert and Edward Kennedy, Helen Joseph, Hendrick Verwoerd, Pik and Pieter Botha, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Coretta Scott-King and Frederick de Klerk.

Over the decades Kumalo has had the opportunity to document national and international artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, Count Bassie, Sammy Davies jnr, Miles Davis, Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuku, Thandi Klaasen, Sibongile Khumalo, PJ Powers, Johnny Clegg, Murray Campbell, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, & Frank Sinatra. In sports, Kumalo has covered international and local legends including Pele, Eusebio, Stan and Jomo Sono, Kaizer Motaung, Muhammed Ali, Enoch Nhlapo, and ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala among others.

Awards From the 50s, Kumalo started winning awards for his work. Encyclopedia Britannica and World Press are just some of the publications that have conferred awards on him. His most memorable award was the one he won in 1963 when he won a car and a caravan in a competition that had 1,900 contestants. It was particularly memorable because, after winning several awards, he had begun doubting his own talent and entered the competition using his African name and he won. In recent years, he has won the Millennium Award Picture, bestowed with South Africa’s Order of Ikhamanga (Silver), the Vodacom Life Achievement Award and the Nat Nakasa Award.

Exhibitions Kumalo has had several exhibitions nationally and internationally. Some of his work has been exhibited in the U.S.A., particularly at the United Nations and Europe where the Western world got a sample of one of South African photography’s living legends. He also exhibited in Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, The Middle East, Rome and several times in London.

Alf Kumalo's images are available for sale at the gallery - The Cow Artworks in Parkhurst.

Photography invented over 150 years ago

Photography is one of the major art forms of our time. Invented over 150 years ago, and continually evolving, photography has become the favourite medium for both communication and aesthetic expression. 


Photographers have produced beautiful and important images that not only give us pleasure but also play an important role in helping us see and interpret the world.


Today, the photography market is strong and stable, primed for major growth in the future and filled with many opportunities for both the seasoned and new collector.


And The Cow Artworks is ready and waiting ....