'African' cricket awaits Oz glory

02 October 2011 - 02:57 By Monica Laganparsad
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Memories of garden games in childhood inspired local artist's submission to international competition, writes Monica Laganparsad

Johannesburg's Terry Ann Kalinko is the only South African among 40 international artists short-listed in an Australian competition to depict a cricketing moment.

Kalinko, 63, will discover on Wednesday whether her painting wins the Cricket Art Prize.

The mother of six and grandmother of nine has been exhibiting her work since 1988 and has had 10 solo exhibitions.

She said her passion for art began when she was just a toddler.

''I had a pencil in my hand when I was three years old, drawing three-dimensional boxes," she said. "My father was a draughtsman so I used to watch him draw."

Kalinko's African-inspired entry, Cricket Under African Sky , reminded her of the days when her father and brother played the sport in their garden in Johannesburg.

''I was a tomboy and used to play cricket, although soccer is my favourite sport. I saw this photograph of a young African lad playing cricket in the streets and it inspired me. The competition called for life in and around cricket and I wanted it to have a strong African theme," she said of her entry.

Kalinko graduated from the-then Bok Street School of Art in Hillbrow with a distinction in painting.

She went on to work as a secretary but, once she discovered that she was ''bored and a bad secretary", she found work as a layout artist at a gardening magazine.

She and her family lived in Australia for about 10 years and, during that time, she was "a mother by day and an artist at night".

She has sold 200 pieces on commission over the years and her exhibitions include one during the 2008 celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary.

The winner of the prize will be announced in Sydney on Wednesday, with the exhibition of all the works of the finalists opening the next day at the Sydney Cricket Ground, before all the artwork goes on a national tour of Australia until early in March.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now