“During lockdown I was planning on doing some arts and crafts as a way to keep myself busy. I then read about string art.”
Christene says she recently started a new job in July and does her string art as a hobby but she also sells her art pieces and takes orders on Facebook.
Christene explained that string art is a nail and thread art.
“One forms geometric patterns which is where the beauty of string art stood out for me. Making these geometric patterns are quite a challenge, one thread that is out of place could make the entire piece look weird,” she added.
“I decided to create a Facebook page for my art and called the page String It. This way I was able to post my art pieces and I am starting to get orders from people that want me to make company logos and lodge signs for them. The idea of String It is to give the customer the opportunity to customise their order. They can choose their own size, colours, fonts, designs or pictures,” she added.
Christene says she was born in Benoni and has always had an artistic flair taking art at school.
“After high school I got accepted to study interior architecture at the University of Pretoria,” said Christine.
“I finished two years of my studies and unfortunately couldn’t finish due to personal reasons.” She then decided to move to Hoedspruit.
“I drove all the way to Hoedspruit alone. It was an amazing trip. I was very excited to start a new chapter of my life, but I had no idea what it had in store for me,” she said.
Her mother lived in Hoedspruit and she moved in with her.
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“I got my first job as an au pair. “At a party she met her now husband, Dwayne Caetano,” added Christine.
The couple has two children of 18-months and another baby born in March.
“I worked as a manager at Fig and Bean Café for three years before lockdown. It allowed me to use my creativity every day. I did all the cake and platter orders. I also painted some interiors of the shop and did chalk drawings on the chalk board,” Christene said.
Jayme-lee was born on 9 March.
“I had the most perfect maternity leave planned. But all of a sudden all my plans fell through. The national lockdown was announced around two weeks after Jayme was born and I was stuck at home with both kids. It was really tough on me. Having a new born and an 18-month-old to look after was no joke. The lockdown took its toll on our family too, we were unable to pay rent and unable to buy food. My husband was fortunate to have work throughout the entire lockdown so we at least had some sort of income,” she says.
In July she accepted a job at her husband’s employer.
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The biggest challenge she faced during the first few weeks of doing string art was to make sure all the nails were hammered in straight and on the same depth.
“I have now found easier ways, I now drill pilot holes instead of hammering in nails. This gives a more professional look to my boards.”
