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| Hendrik and his exhibit of artwork. |
I was born on a farm at Niekerkshoop in south Africa on the 11th of September 1951. Today I am married to my wife Annette and we have a son, Willem (13) and a daughter, Christine (10). I spent the first years of my life in the veld. My father was a hunter and a bore-man, drilling for water on various farms.
We were a family of eight, travelling from farm to farm, living in a tent. My mother told me, "as a small baby, you used to roll off the camping bed, fall down on the ground and continue to play happily. Later you would play alone in the veld with all sorts of small, wild animals - even spiders and poisonous snakes!" I guess that is where my passion for nature initially started.
At school-going age we settled in Walvis Bay (Namibia), where I grew up and finished school. In those years, I enjoyed camping in the Namib Desert (on most occasions with a bicycle), fishing and diving for crayfish. From an early age, I loved drawing and other forms of art, but never received any formal instruction.
We were a family of eight, travelling from farm to farm, living in a tent. My mother told me, "as a small baby, you used to roll off the camping bed, fall down on the ground and continue to play happily. Later you would play alone in the veld with all sorts of small, wild animals - even spiders and poisonous snakes!" I guess that is where my passion for nature initially started.
At school-going age we settled in Walvis Bay (Namibia), where I grew up and finished school. In those years, I enjoyed camping in the Namib Desert (on most occasions with a bicycle), fishing and diving for crayfish. From an early age, I loved drawing and other forms of art, but never received any formal instruction.
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| Hendrik demonstrates his techniques. |
My dream in life was to become an architect. After high school, I attended a university where I studied architecture - quite successfully. In my 4th year they changed the written examinations to oral examinations. I have a speech impediment and was advised not to continue. Embittered and heart-broken, I returned to the veld. I studied the nature, anatomy and behavior of wild animals by observing and photographing them. I became a keen observer of nature and everything around me.
I didn't have any money to fill my empty tummy, so my hobby, art, turned into a fulltime job. The only way I could survive, was to sell my works from door to door. It was difficult times, but with good discipline, perseverance and a helping hand from Above, there were better days to come.
I didn't have any money to fill my empty tummy, so my hobby, art, turned into a fulltime job. The only way I could survive, was to sell my works from door to door. It was difficult times, but with good discipline, perseverance and a helping hand from Above, there were better days to come.