About Woodstock
Once a small fishing hamlet, Woodstock began life as Papendorp in the mid-1800s, before land reclamation in the 1950s destroyed the magnificent Woodstock Beach. With the increasing English influence after the British occupation of the Cape, the name was changed to the more Anglicized New Brighton before finally becoming Woodstock. But the British influence remains strong in the road names, such as Victoria and Albert, and the rows of brick terraced and semi-detached houses that would not be out of place in an English town.
Sadly the area fell into poverty and crime became rife. However, in recent years, the area has seen a revival with new retail, office and other commercial opportunities regenerating and gentrifying the area which still retains many beautiful old buildings which are now being restored.

The artwork featured here is currently on exhibition at the South African Society of Artists' Annual Exhibition, in the Richard Crowie Hall, in Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town.

All my works are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on stretched canvas.
Visit the online gallery here to view my available work.
​
Place your order
by phone on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com
or inbox me on facebook: Solly Gutman Scratchboard Art

The South African Society of Artists’ 112th Annual Exhibition opens on Friday 24 August at 18:30, in the Richard Crowie Hall, Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town. This important exhibition will be opened by Virginia MacKenny, artist, author and Associate Professor at the Michaelis School of Fine Art.

Three independent judges, Liesl Hartmann, Virginia McKenny and Gail Dorje, selected artwork from over 400 pieces submitted by Society members and awarded points based on the quality and originality if the submitted work. The number of points an artist is awarded overall for their submitted work governs the number of artworks which that artist can submit for the highly prestigious SASA Merit Exhibition which will be held at Kirstenbosch in February 2019.

The exhibition runs daily from 09:30 to 17:30 until Thursday 13 September. This covers three weekends, so save the dates and come along if you can. There are so many high quality artworks in this exhibition!

Here are the three pieces (the maximum allowed for submission) which I will have in this wonderful exhibition.

This year's 'Winter Life' exhibition, curated by Mark and Lindy Alexander, opened on the 9th August at St Peter's Church in Fish Hoek. This splendid event was well-attended and had a lovely atmosphere. I have two limited edition works on  exhibition, which moves to Mark and Lindy's Studio Art Gallery in Simon's Town, on Monday 13th August.
There are many wonderful works in the exhibition, so do go along if you can. The exhibition runs until 30th September.

All works are available as high quality prints on non-archival paper or on stretched canvas.
Visit the online gallery here to view my available work.
​
Place your order
by phone on +27 79 247 7532
by email to gutmansolly@gmail.com
or inbox me on facebook: Solly Gutman Scratchboard Art

At the beginning of the 19th Century, Durbanville in Cape Town was an outpost known as Pampoenkraal. At that time, the Cape windmills were situated along the Liesbeek and Black Rivers, but with the rising demand for wheat, these mills could not cope. This is almost certainly the reason why Onze Molen was built in what was then an outlying area.

The mill was named when Mr B Brinkworth bought the farm on which it was situated in 1963 and his wife named it Onze Molen. Tentative plans for restoration proved impractical and 20 years later, in 1983, Brinkworth sold the property to the Natal Building Society. In the interim, Onze Molen had been reduced to a four metre high trunk with a corrugated iron roof that provided shelter for labourers on the farm. The NBS researched possible restoration with the help of the National Monuments Council and although no plan of Onze Molen was found, its restoration was based on Mostert's Mill, which is of a slightly earlier period. The architect for the restoration was JORDAAN & HARTWIG, Cape Town.

Paul Woolley of Daljosaphat Restorations did a great deal of research and undertook the restoration. The wooden mechanism of the cap was made in the company's workshop, dismantled, transported to Durbanville and reconstructed on site. The cap was thatched on the ground and the entire structure was hoisted into place by crane. The restored mill was officially opened in 1986. It is now the proud centre piece of the Onze Molen Village development. Because it is sited on land designated as public open space, the Durbanville municipality has assumed responsibility for it.