Detta
grew up in Kenya where her father was born and raised. As a young
child she was profoundly influenced by the beauty and sensitivity
of the drawings in sketchbooks he had kept while a POW during
WW2. They reflected his connection to the land, experiences and
love for nature which mirrored her own empathy with the vastness
of sky and landscape of the environment, and developed the reverence
for Nature and indigenous peoples which has characterized her
work ever since.
She is a graduate of the Department of Art and Architecture of
the University College of Nairobi. During those years she discovered
the amazing richness and variety of local stone and rock which
could be translated into vibrant mosaics and spent considerable
time travelling to remote places with a geological hammer.
In 1968 she moved to Jamaica with her husband and two infant sons,
where she taught, part-time, at various girl's high schools until
1978 when the family which now included a daughter, relocated
to Trinidad. There was little artistic output during that time,
but since 1986 Detta has worked as a professional Artist, freelance
graphic illustrator and part-time teacher.
She has worked in a variety of media from oils and watercolours,
to oil pastels, lino-cut and block prints, batik, terracotta sculpture
and ceramics.
She has deep concern for environmental matters, particularly the
plight of our native wildlife, and runs a small Rehab. for damaged
and orphaned wild birds and animals, out of her pocket from her
back yard.
She is a member of the TT Field Naturalists Club, the CFCA, and
the Zoological Society of T&T.
She has previously successfully exhibited her work at Art Creators
Gallery.
Detta established a wildlife orphanage at her residence.W.O.R.C.: http://worctrinidad.org
Contact:
Detta
Van Aardt-Buch
P.O.Box 1378, Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
