Drawings, Poetry & Creative Texts, Paintings made by Hands, Face and Body
NEWSLETTER December 2019

TREES & EARTH

are my inspiration in winter time Europe walking my dogs in the forest and gardens of Holland.

My favorite tree had to be put down, it grew close to my studio in the garden. 

Drawing: My favorite tree is living in me. You can see: the tree is the connection between heaven & earth, being (new) life, being a fusion and a channel between the life giving Earth and life/light giving Sunshine.

More and more my drawings show the beauty of this planet Earth, and become a prayer for hope for a better planet with more light.

NEWSLETTER April 2019

Left: Drawing about elephants in South Africa with elelphant marks on my clothes.
Center: Big Love...
Right: Happiness with Jabulani (happiness in Zulu) 

NEWSLETTER March 2018

FULLTIME WORKING AS ARTIST AND WRITER

Creating drawings every day, snad drawings at the beach, dream catchers as paintings with feathers and shells, paintings, poetry, songs & music compositions.

Themes in my ART are, were and still are:

The higher light, Inner Treasure, Flowering Lotus, Hope in the shit/mud, Wonder trees, Drawings after meditation : standing like a tree,  SO HAM ~ the divine in us, Love, light and celebration, underwaterworld, dolphins, oisters. 

Themes in my poetry and writing:

Experiences of nature, creation and wrestling with the demons, eventually with the message: beauty and growth is in everything.

Working at updating my website with latest creations august 2017-august 2018

Thank you and enjoy!

HOPING TO INSPIRE YOU !!!

Lionah, 24 July 2018

NEWSLETTER ~ ART NEWS MARCH 2017

Drawings every day
Very inspired, always, by the sun, the bright sun of Africa, but also very much by the Dutch magic sunlight coming through the clouds.  This is an every moment changing spectacle appearing in front of you when walking on the beach. The light is beautifully reflected by the waves of the sea, who are different in colour and shape every day. 
 
A few days at the sea in the South of Holland offered me a lot of inspiration. I made a new series of drawings about the light, wind, sand dunes and forest with little reflecting lakes (vennetjes). See blog Drawing every day.
 
New Poetry 
In process of making is poetry book nr 6 'Flowers of creation' about the beauty and miracle of creation, which is always a blessing to me. Apart from the bright side, there are also critical poems popping up about the conflict, injustice and ego's tricks inside and around us. For the most recent news look at ART/poetry on this website with the poem 'Poetry bomb for the terrorist mind'......
 
Textile/Design project Johannesburg
In October/November 2016 during the second part of the project with young fashion designers in Johannesburg we created more scarfs on different textiles decorated with paint shelss and beads.  For more info read ART/Textile and Blog item 2016.
The unique scarfs are to wear as art-pieces  are for sale in Xynergy Art Studio Gallery & Shop.

Kids Africa & Holland
Children all over the world are creative and enthusiastic when you open up the paint pots and the source of inspiration for them.
In the Freestate, South Africa children created wonderfuln drawings about radiation and of the stars and the energy of a growing seed. Children in Holland visited my art studio to paint water & fire and to draw lions & birds.
They enjoyed just like the children on the picture in the African sun!

 

Inspired regards,

Lionah Chimara

Newsletter ~ Art news October 2016


Tekening

Elke dag maak ik een nieuwe tekening, die vervolgens op de website te zien is. Als ik op reis ben, duurt het soms wat langer voordat ze erop staan, maar getekend worden ze wel!

Dichtbundel 5
Mijn nieuwe dichtbundel nr. 5 is uit; ‘Dots of pink / Verfspatten’ en is geïnspireerd door andere kunstenaars, schilders en schrijvers. Zo is het gedicht ‘Waterlelies’ een ode is aan de schilder Monet, en het gedicht ‘De painting blues’ een knipoog naar Kandinsky’s schilderijen met experimenten in kleur die emotie en of een geluid uitbeelden.

Serie dierkaarten
Pas gedrukt is ook een serie kaarten van wilde dieren in Zuid-Afrika. Deze serie is besteld door een dierenpark in Johannesburg, naar aanleiding van mijn serie tekeningen elke dag in Januari van dit jaar. De wilde dieren tekende ik omdat ik Zuid-Afrika zo miste. De kaartenserie is nu al een succes, want er zijn er al van verkocht voordat de bestelling van het dierenpark uberhaupt in Zuid-Afrika is gearriveerd... Tevens zijn ze recent besteld als kerstkaart voor een bedrijf in Nederland!

Paintings...
Bij vlagen ben ik ook aan het schilderen, recent weer een aantal gemaakt. Daarover later meer op deze website.

Fashion design
Een interessante ontwikkeling in Johannesburg is ook mijn ontmoeting met studenten van een opleiding tot fashion design. We zijn gaan experimenteren met tassen, sjaals en kunstzinnige oplossingen. Het management van de opleiding was zo geïnteresseerd dat ik erheen ga om de komende maanden met hen samen te werken. Misschien wordt mijn project wel geïntegreerd in de school als examenonderdeel!

Kids Africa
Elke keer als ik in Zuid-Afrika ben, bezoek ik een paar scholen in het binnenland, in de berggebieden, waar ze hulp goed kunnen gebruiken. Ik neem tekenmaterialen, verf en muziekinstrumenten mee en dat geeft ze een inspiratieboost, ik daag ze uit tot originaliteit en boost hun self-esteem...

Inspired regards,

Lionah

Lionah Chimara
Lionah Chimara

 

Artist, Author, Teacher, Performer

Drawings, poetry & creative texts, painting made by hands, face and body

Lionah Chimara is the artist name of Karin Giesen, born and raised in the Netherlands. Working as artist from when able to hold a pencil, drawing every day

Studies:  Art, Art History & Art teaching in Amsterdam (first grade, HBO & University) and New York (Masters of Art)

Working experience : as art agent, art teacher (all levels, Primary, Secondary, Gymnasium, Mbo,Hbo, University - adults, kids, disabled, blind, deaf) and art guide (Van Gogh- Rijks, Stedelijk Museum, Schloss Moyland & Louvre Museum) in different countries from 1990 to 2002.

Xynergy Foundation: art & music projects at schools and orphan homes in South Africa.

Happy to share the joy of creation in workshops & art sessions for children and adults in Xynergy Art Studio Holland.

Lives in South Africa and the Netherlands, parttime in France

Xynergy Art Studio

In Xynergy Art Studio Chimara invites other people and children to come create and express in a different way. There are workshops in drawing, poetry, painting with hands, clay and music available.

The  philosophy is to create from an inner source of inspiration, free of mind, let go and create. Main themes are the elements and Nature: Water, Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, Seeds, Animals, Butterflies and Flowers etc.

Also possible on location in schools, teams, companies, children's homes, for abled and disabled people; all levels, all ages.

Xynergy Art Studio Holland & South Africa

Xynergy Foundation South Africa

My first visit to South Africa I made in 2001, and against all negative advises I decided to stay in Umlazi, a huge township near Durban. 

During the three weeks I stayed, the people around me where warm and welcoming,teaching me a lot about the township life. The way people live there is very social with togetherness - called UBUNTU in isiZulu - but also a tough life with real poverty around the corner.

Singing and dancing help them to make the world go round - listen to the many beautiful choirs like Ladysmith Black Mombazo, The Soweto Gospel Choir, and many others.

Falling in love with the inspiration through the smiles and good vibes, I started to give my share back to paint for fun with the children. Looking at the real Xynergy (synergy by creating art together, a kind of Ubuntu) that arose, I was invited to come paint with groups of children in schools. So there I was, staying in AA section, but painting together in B-section and S-section schools, and singing and dancing in the streets and shebeens, learning to express in a natural way like them.

South Africa got me and this grew into more and more travels and projects and in 2002 Xynergy Foundation for Art, Culture & Education in South Africa was born, based in the Netherlands. By several sponsors and team building painting sessions I organised in my studio in the Netherlands, money came in for schools in South Africa, where I organised the art projects. The projects became bigger; wall size canvas painted by hands and face with large groups of children, to sometimes minimusicals with drums and choirs -

Projects: 

  • in the Drakensberg in 2004;
  • with orphan kiddies in Valley of 1000 Hills in 2005; 
  • with deaf and blind children in Qua Qua; 
  • with Drakensberg Boys Choir in 2007; 
  • a major performance painting and dancing in an Art Gallery in Durban in 2008; 
  • music and art projects at various schools in Drakensberg in 2009, 2010 and 2011; 
  • nature awareness connected to art with lions-project in 2012 and 2013.

From 2014 there I took a sabbatical pause, to digest the booming years with the kids, and to gain new money for the future. One way to do that, is the selling of Art Cards of lion drawing by the children and by me…..soon available at various selling points and a web-shop on this site.

But already available by sending me a request by e-mail: xynergy.chimara@gmail.com.
More info & photo’s on www.xynergy.nl/south-africa 

Xynergy Foundation South Africa
First sing and dance outside, before expressing happy inspiration in drawing inside the classroom, K-more school, Drakensberg, 2009

First sing and dance outside, before expressing happy inspiration in drawing inside the classroom, K-more school, Drakensberg, 2009.

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