Claremont artist scoops award

John Bauer, 43, of Claremont, won the recycling award at the Innibos National Craft Awards, held virtually on Heritage Day last month.

This is the fifth annual Innibos National Craft Awards, which is supported by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

Mr Bauer won for Misty Cliffs, an artwork made from mosaic tiles, recycled hardened clay, recycled chemicals and remnants of potter’s buckets: glaze and hardened clay.

“Misty Cliffs is work anchored through local inspirations while paying homage to every single culture that has arrived in Cape Town,” he says.

The mosaic includes around 1400 matchbox-sized tiles.

Mr Bauer says he has always been fascinated by clay and when he left school, he opened a studio to start teaching ceramics.

“That truly accelerated my learning for I had a very experimental attitude and encouraged my students to venture through possibility, then later I decided to throw myself all into just developing, researching and making new ways of making ceramic.”

Mr Bauer has been based at his studio, John Bauer Ceramics, at the Montebello Design Centre, in Newlands, for about four years. He says he loves sharing his art and participating in his community to inspire others.

This is the first time he participated in the Innibos National Craft Awards. He won a R20 000 cash prize.