Ydi is a freelancer and artist with painting as main discipline. She grew up drawing, making music and reading and her supportive parents encouraged her delving into the arts. Her parents' ministry in the URC (a previously segregated reformed church in South Africa) played a big role in her upbringing and her thoughts on poverty, politics and faith. Ydi enrolled in a BA of Fine Arts at Stellenbosch University where many facets of her world were challenged. Unsure about Western Art education and confused about her faith she headed off to Kampala, East-Africa for postgraduate studies. This led to even more questions but also to a deepening in her art practice. The complexity of Christianity, history, and art in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to interest her. After her studies Ydi visited the English L’Abri community where the warm hospitality and imaginative environment re-established her faith in Christian orthodoxy. In Stellenbosch her artistic career gradually grew, taking part in modest group shows and entering competitions. It was during this time that she attended her first Artists’ Gathering and was introduced to like-minded thinkers on culture, theology and the arts. Classical music and her outdoorsy husband, August, keeps her sane among the many challenges facing the SA context. Favourite authors C.S. Lewis G.K Chesterton Leo Tolstoy John Ruskin Calvin and Hobbes