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urban North artist Heidi Shedlock has been trailblazing online for years, starting with her Paintings in the Post project in 2013 when she painted small canvases daily and sold them via her blog. They were snapped up, many by international buyers, and her online presence on social media grew rapidly as a result. She has sold paintings via her website and social media accounts and online galleries, too, and now, she has taken another step into the digital world by launching her online Creative Community Studio. “After almost 20 years of teaching inperson art classes and creative workshops, I have been wanting to explore how I might reach and help a broader creative community. The idea had been on my mind for a long time,” she explains. “When lockdown arrived, I suddenly had the time to put it into motion as well as realising that South Africans were more interested in exploring online learning now.” The idea behind the Creative Community Studio is to use her expertise and experience as a qualified teacher – who has run art classes from home for years
Artistic VENTURE
ARTIST HEIDI SHEDLOCK’S ONLINE CREATIVE COMMUNITY STUDIO TEACHES SKILLS WHILE BUILDING CONFIDENCE, WRITES CANDICE BOTHA – alongside her work as a successful professional artist, to create a community of people who want to get in touch with their own creativity and learn not only painting techniques but also how to maximise the creative process. “I wanted to connect particularly with people who may not have the time, money or the confidence to attend an in-person art class,” explains Heidi. She certainly covers the skills required of an artist but also pays close attention to building confidence in
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If you have always felt too self-conscious, introverted or ‘not good enough’ to attend inperson workshops, this is the place for you”
her students and teaching them how to express their own artistic vision. “If you have always felt too self-conscious, introverted or ‘not good enough’ to attend in-person workshops, this is the place for you. I am a natural introvert who works hard at this, so I understand completely. No art police here and you can interact as or when you want to, but obviously the more you join in, the more you will benefit.” Heidi’s Creative Community Studio is an online, monthly membership with unlimited
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