Art by Driekie van Wyk. Image: Supplied
Driekie van Wyk’s father was the very first guitar maker in South Africa. Her creativity therefore runs deep. Her father built the tools he needed to craft these instruments with the utmost care and she loved playing with the wood shavings in his workshop. She says being so close to the creation process fuelled her own desire to create.
While she climbed the corporate ladder, her talent for creating was put on hold. But, her life was turned upside down when she lost her baby boy, Selah. A friend, Sylvia Ralph encouraged her to find a creative outlet during the grieving process and gave her a large canvas and basic colours to paint with. That is where it all started.
“It helped me pause and think about what happened (Selah) and not rush through the experience,” she wrote in an Instagram post on 18 December 2019.
“I could take my time in this fast-paced world to allow myself to feel. I found healing in a supernatural gift I never thought I had.”
She said that Sylvia’s simple kindness changed the direction of her life in such an amazing way. “And my boy, Selah. Although you’ve been in this life for just a few seconds, you came to help me find direction. I honour the two of you today,” she wrote.
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