Gunter Crous: An interview with an artist by Savs

GüNTHER CROUSAn Interview With An ArtistSavs

"Everything about fly fishing is art to me.I would frame anything flyfishing related and hang it on my wall."

Picture the scene, a warm suburban midwinter Saturday morning a few months back. I should be cleaning the pool, going for a haircut or using my gym card for the first time but I’m halfway through my second cup of coffee and congratulating myself on how well the day is panning out.

My phone beeps in my pocket and I idly fish it out and open the incoming message. It’s from a friend who understands and shares my interests. “Oh my word!”, or words to that effect, it says, “Check this guy out!” and I squint my middle-aged eyes at the screen to see a profile image of a guy standing next to a custom Harley Davidson. “Cool bike”, I think, flopping my phone back into my shorts and continuing to stare vacantly towards the horizon.

It’s a full week later before I stalk his facebook profile and have a “Oh my word!” moment of my own. It’s not the bike that captures my attention, although it’s way cool, but his artwork. I go from stalker to screaming, arm-waving, drooling fan in a matter of seconds. The man’s work is incredible.

I recently took the time to catch up with Günther and discovered, once again, just how much talent we have tucked into every corner of this country.

Tell us something about yourself. Family, career, where you live, that sort of thing.

I was born in the small farming community of Bothaville in 1972. I have been living on the outskirts of Bethlehem since 2001 with my wife and two teenage children. I’ve been a teacher for the past 21 years.

I think I was well on my way to becoming a hermit if good fortune did not introduce me to my now wife.

I get you, most of the guys I fish with could easily slip into a hermit’s life, and some are well on their way already. You’re obviously an art teacher.

No, I teach Special Education (LSEN) Skills training in welding and wood.

Ok, I didn’t see that coming, but in a country with scarce skills I think that’s really cool. When did you begin fly fishing?

I bought a fly rod during my varsity years but only got seriously hooked in 2013 when one of my fishing friends, Tiaan Labuschagne, loaned me a proper fly rod and under his guidance I was able to land my first fish at Sterkfontein. The rest is history.

Like the rest of us did you come from a bait / papgooi / spin fishing background or did you go straight to the fly?

My parents used to enjoy papgooi and we would camp next to the Vaal. They’re special memories but the papgooi never really became a keen interest of mine.

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Everything about fly fishing is art to me. I would frame anything flyfishing related and hang it on my wall.

A kindred spirit. Where do you most often fish?

I am in the privileged position to live in the Bethlehem / Clarens area with the beautiful Ash River, Liebenbergsvlei, local stocked farm dams and Sterkfonteindam close by (less than a 60 min drive.)

Are you formally trained as an artist?

No/Yes - I did elementary art (teaching) at Teachers College, but the rest is self-taught and result of short courses that I attended over the years.

I started in primary school mostly with pencil drawings of figures, faces and cartoons. I only started with (oil) painting in 2006. I like to

work wet on wet – it’s a very forgiving medium to work in.

I’ve loved doing figurative and landscape work but since my flyfishing addiction started there is no turning back. I take a lot of photos and use them as a reference for my paintings.

I have a very strong viewpoint against the idea of an artist copying work from the internet and selling it as their own. I completed one painting of a brook trout using an internet photo (a gift to a friend) but only after I received special permission from the American photographer.

Fish are like the mountains, their ever-changing colours are hypnotising

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Respect! The internet has seen artists and creators being ripped off on an industrial scale. Brookies are insanely beautiful and with their colours and markings and must be challenging to capture. What is your favourite fish to paint?

Fish are like the mountains, their everchanging colours are hypnotising. Any fish at a given time is beautiful but trout wins the race at the moment.

I’ve made an enormous frame of 2.2mx1.2m that I would like to fill with paintings of all our indigenous fresh water fish.

That’s a really cool idea and local is lekker. How do you actually select what to paint? Do you prefer painting the fish or the angler and the fish? How do you go about it?

I have no preference but it is always a welcome challenge to try and capture the emotions of the angler present.

That’s something that you really get right. When you watch an angler working he has a very distinct body attitude and way of moving. It’s something that many other artists just can’t seem to capture and the angler looks wooden. In terms of medium what is your favourite or most common medium to capture this all in?

Oil, oil and oil. I also enjoy mixed media – oil, charcoal and ink.

Oil, oil and oil ? Every Harley owner’s driveway. You had a profile image with a fantastic Harley custom in it that first caught my eye? Do you ride?

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Yes, I’m passionate about motorcycles. At first it was old BMW Boxers but now love my customised HD Shovelhead (1975 Shovelhead, 1942 (10/12) Rigged frame). I also have two smaller Japanese (mid 70’) motorcycles.

Do you take commissions for work? I know a lot of people who are avid fans and collectors of flyfishing art.

Yes, I do take commissions if they come my

way. I also do framing (synthetic or wood) so I can provide the whole package.

What is on your fishing and painting bucket list and if you could fish with one person who would it be?

I wish I could fish all of the small streams and stillwaters near Rhodes and Maclear - and I’ve made a start by booking for December 2019 at Vrederus,

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The ultimate experience for me would be the Limay River in Patagonia, Argentina. I want to paint wild trout from remote areas in Chile or Argentina that I photographed myself.

I’d love to fish with Yvon Chouinard or Douglas Tompkins (sadly no longer with us) – I think our conversation would have started with religion and moved over to conservation.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m busy preparing a canvas to capture the intricate detail of the trout eye. I’m also busy experimenting with soldering iron on wood.

I’ve seen the photo that I think is your reference for the trout eye and I can’t wait to see the finished piece. Favourite artist or one that inspires you?

If Rembrandt and Van Gogh could just be one person…

Can you imagine Van Gogh’s take on a brookie! Who is your favourite fish / outdoors artist?

Marcel Terblanche locally and David Miller internationally.

Thanks Günther, this has been an absolute pleasure. Send us a pic of a wild Patagonian fish one day - we’d give anything to see it.

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