John Kramer in his Studio. Painting

Born in Windhoek ( Namibia). I grew up in different towns in Namibia. Mainly Walvisbaai and Otjiwarongo. I also have strong ties with the Kalahari, because my grandparents had farms there. I have very good and vivid memories of the times I spend on the farms during holidays and weekends. I also lived on the farms for periods, pre-school. I think these times shaped me a lot. The sensations of the smell of coal stove and gas, the sound of a generator. Candles at night and a lot of time outside experiencing the details of a very wealthy visual Kalahari. My Grannies were very skilled people (craft-wise) I learned to work with my hands from young. My father sketched and painted from time to time. I moved to Potchefstroom in my teens, where I spend my last days in school and worked as a clothing designer and got involved through that with other aspects of art. Props, backdrops etc. The art outran the clothes. It chose me. Not me it. But it was the right choice as its perfect, fits me like a glove. I am that in flesh and bone and marrow in mind and reality. I left Potchefstroom in the early nineties and moved to the Western Cape where I still live. In the fashion I was shaped by the times in the Kalahari. On a farm on top of a mountain, with beautiful nature and the milky way at night. Simplicity, space, sounds and sensational smells of fire and artist turps.