Scratchboard / Scraperboard Art by Solly Gutman 'The Colour of Black and White' - BLOG

Youth Day in South Africa

6/19/2022

Youth Day commemorates the Soweto youth uprising of 16 June 1976. It signifies a very sad time in our country's past, standing as a painful reminder of the courage displayed by students who stood against the apartheid government by taking part in a rally to protest against the introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
Read more about the history of Youth Day here

Youth Day is a Public Holiday in South Africa which offers an opportunity to celebrate all young people and spread awareness and openness about the positive changes that have come to South Africa.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

The Black Breasted Snake Eagle

6/12/2022

The beautiful Black Breasted Snake Eagle is a medium-sized, mostly brown eagle with yellow eyes and an unspotted white belly. In flight it has brown-barred white wings. Widely-found across southern and eastern Africa, it is nomadic in savanna, plains, and semi-desert, where it forages primarily for snakes and lizards.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

The Sky Diver!

6/5/2022

Rock kestrels are most often seen in rocky mountainous habitats in Southern Africa. Hence their name. Prey is caught on the ground and they feed mainly on small mammals, birds, insects and reptiles. They may also be seen perching on electricity poles along the roadside, looking for any unsuspecting prey; If there is no tall object to perch on, they will hover in the air to inspect the ground below. If they happen to see a tasty morsel they will parachute down holding both of their wings back behind their back to enable them to drop at a greater speed, like a skydiver with his hands behind his back.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

Adderley Flower Sellers

5/29/2022

The flower sellers of Adderley Street are a major part of the beauty and heritage of Cape Town. For 155 years, they have been selling their flowers from the popular market at Trafalgar Place. Most of the flower sellers are women whose grandmothers and great-grandmothers plied their trade there for several decades.
Two such flower sellers are sisters Alison Snyders and Karin Bachmann. These third-generation flower sellers have been making bright and beautiful arrangements at the flower market for 35 years. You can listen to a podcast of a recent interview with them on Cape Talk, one of our local radio stations, here.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

Crowned Crane

5/22/2022

Crowned cranes are every bit as majestic as their name suggests. One of 15 species of crane, these long-legged birds have grey bodies, white wings with brown and gold feathers, white cheeks, and bright red gular sacs underneath their chins. Most strikingly, a spray of stiff golden feathers forms a crown around their heads.

Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

A new portrait of Spike Lee

5/15/2022

I recently completed this portrait of American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and professor, Spike Lee. I was so pleased with the way it turned out, that I have written to the great man via his production company offering him the opportunity to purchase the original. Waiting in eager anticipation, I shall be delighted if he responds, even if he isn't interested in purchasing!

Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

Cheetah

5/7/2022

The cheetah is one of the world’s most-recognizable cats, known especially for its speed. Nearly all the cheetahs remaining in the wild live in Africa. Cheetahs are covered almost entirely with small black spots on a background of pale yellow and have a white underbelly. Their faces are distinguished by prominent black lines that curve from the inner corner of each eye to the outer corners of the mouth, like a well-worn trail of inky tears. Read more fascinating facts about the cheetah here.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to solly.gutman1@gmail.com

Nelson Mandela and Freedom Day in South Africa

5/1/2022

On Wednesday, 27th April, South Africa celebrated Freedom Day, commemorating the first time every South African citizen was given a vote. These first democratic elections were held 28 years ago on 27th April 1994. A staggering 19.7m of the 22.7m eligible voters showed up at the polls to make their votes count in South Africa’s first non-racial election. The presidential candidate for that first election was the iconic Nelson Mandela, who is widely credited for brokering the peaceful transition of power in the country.

Here he is in all his glory! You can read more about the great man here.

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Visit my online gallery to see all of my available work.
All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

The African Leopard

4/24/2022

Leopards are the least social, and perhaps the most beautiful, of all the African big cats. They usually keep to themselves, lurking in the dense riverine bush, or around rocky outcrops, emerging to hunt in the late afternoon or at night.

The leopard is a graceful animal with an elongated body, relatively short legs and a long tail. After the lion, it is the next-biggest African cat. Leopards in the wild may live up to 15 years. Unlike the lion, the leopard is a silent creature, only occasionally emitting a cough-like call.

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Visit my online gallery for more images of African animals and birds, botanical works, historical buildings and places in and around Cape Town, all in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com

Hanover Street Fish Market & Aspeling Street Mosque

4/10/2022

The Cape Malay fishermen, who mainly lived in District Six, recognised two seasons. There was the season of the small fish, such as harders, which lasted eight months, then came the season of the big fish, particularly snoek.

The fishermen never risked their money in banks, rather they wrapped their coins in lappies (little bits of rag) and through them on the roof of the four-poster bed which most of them inherited.

They would often discuss the snoek run during the season. An early season, with fat specimens at the outset, portends a wet winter, but if the fish only began to run in late April or early May, the Cape winter would be dry and brief.

A snoek with soft and pinkish flesh is suspect and few will eat it, and if appears slightly luminous when hung in the dark, it must not be eaten even if freshly caught. You have been warned!

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Visit my online gallery for more images of historical buildings and places in and around Cape Town, African animals and birds, botanical works, all in both monochrome and colour.

All images are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on ready-to-hang stretched canvas.

Contact me:
by phone/whatsapp on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com