Artzcafe is the online gifting gallery created by local Artist Shelley Fuhr. It’s not only loved by the locals but has recently been spotted in the Tanzanian president’s office for interesting reasons. Read more…
About Shelley’s story on life of gifting. And how she turned her creativity and imagination into a rewarding business.
Give me any opportunity to be creative and my heart just runs there. I love using my hands and imagination to bring beautiful products into the world. I always say that the meaning of life is to find your gift and then the purpose of life is to give it away. My happy place is sitting in my studio (my kids call it my treehouse) with the light pouring in, the table covered with molds and materials, tools and supplies, bursting with ideas and colour. Giving gifts is such an important part of our lives. We gift our bestie on her birthday, our hosts for dinner, our neighbors who just moved in. We gift the school teacher, our colleague, the bride to be and the brand new mama.
We all give gifts and often the hardest part is finding that really special gift, meaningful enough to give to that special someone – Something from the heart, and that’s where I come in.
I’m passionate about creating the perfect gift that makes those special people in your life feel loved. It’s been a remarkable journey building my brand. Emotionally, I pour my heart and soul into it and every single gift that leaves my studio is handmade with love. I work with all kinds of materials and when I started learning about resin art, I fell in love with the finished product. Each piece is practical, unique, stylish, textured and adorned with glitter. I’ve often had to teach myself new skills from scratch. I watch webinars in the hundreds, travel to international seminars, network and engage with other talented artists around the globe and spend hours on my favorite design programs. Artzcafe has taken me to places I never imagined I would go, both creatively and geographically. I have won international awards for my artworks and have always loved art, with a passion for digital art.
My creative journey began at the Johannesburg School of Art, classically trained in painting. I then studied dress design at Gordon Flack Davidson, winning the best designer award and dressed two Miss World’s in the Miss World competition. I studied digital art in Venice, where I acquired a deep-seated love and appreciation for the future medium. I have never looked back on my choice to colour the world with an advanced digital technique that brings technology and paintbrush together, seamlessly. Recently, I was tasked with the dream project by designing the perfect award for the COSAFA Soccer Women’s Championship. I was able to use my art and incorporate it into the awards. Who knew my art would take me there? It was such a meaningful project celebrating these amazingly talented women and the cherry on top was seeing my awards sitting on the desk of the President of Tanzania. The award for the top player of the tournament award being awarded by him to the winner, whom was from Tanzania. My soccer designer awards were awarded globally to top players from Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe etc and our very own South African Women’s soccer players, “Banyana”. My dream is to have a little piece of me in everyone’s home worldwide. There is nothing like a gift that makes you think of the person that gave it to you when you use it and smile. Visit my online shopping store https://artzcafe.co.za/ a gallery to explore all my bespoke gifts and if there’s something specific you have in mind and can’t find, reach out to me, I love creating new and meaningful things.
LET’S BE FRIENDS –
Instagram: Follow @artzcafe_shelleyfuhr for my best kind of love, my love for art-Artpreneur
Facebook: Artzcafe
Twitter: Shelley@Artzcafe_shelz
TikTok: Rochelle Fuhr
