Portraits: Amor Coetzee

Amor Coetzee is the creative mind behind the artistic label Dayfeels- a collection of illustrations, art prints and ceramics. Born in a small seaside town in the Eastern Cape, Amor was taught from a young age about how to be introspective and focus on the simple things in life- a quality that has carried through and inspired much of her work today. Now based in Cape Town, Amor’s main focus is her Dayfeels brand along with taking time out to pursue her love for photography, design, hiking and yoga.  

Amor has worked alongside Hannah Lavery at Hope Studio for two years. Working so close to each other it became clear that their aesthetics were similar in their minimalism and celebration of clean shapes and lines. A collaboration was just the natural progression of many casual discussions about beautiful objects that they imagined could compliment and combine their two mediums.

Can you share with us, some information regarding your upbringing and background?

 I would say that I come from quite a liberal and creative family. My father is a business man by profession but has always been a passionate, creative being and a lover of music. He taught me so much about appreciating the beauty of sound. One of my fondest memories while growing up is evenings spent sitting next to him listening to Cat Stevens or Pink Floyd. My beautiful mother has always been a lover of the arts and the walls in my childhood home were always filled with artworks.

Could you provide us with some background as to what your inspiration behind your Dayfeels brand was? Or how it came into being? 

Dayfeels started by mistake as a passion project on the side. I studied photography and fine art, moved to the big city to pursue a career as a portrait and fashion photographer and ended up building and working with Greg Dale to open an art installation gallery called Commune1. A few years later I found myself sitting behind a computer screen, unhappy and uninspired. This is how Dayfeels was born. Out of pure lust of creating again and as they say, the rest is history. 

How did the collaboration with Hannah Lavery come about?

Hannah and I have been working alongside each other at Hope street studio for the past two years. After many wine infused discussions and passing chats at the studio, we finally decided to take the plunge and just do it. We were both fully aware of the risks involved in doing something like this, but felt that it was something we both wanted to do purely as a passion project. To fuel our creative needs and challenge us to try something completely new. It was so incredible to see it unfold and our designs to merge so effortlessly. 

What was the thinking behind the print that you developed for it?

When designing the print, I wanted to stay true to my style. The vision for the print was to be bold, but not too intimidating. I wanted to create something that even the extreme minimalist would wear. The concept behind the drawing itself was all about fluidity, using curves, shapes and lines inspired by the human form. 

How was that inspiration tied in with the Hannah Lavery brand?

Hannah and I both had a very clear vision of staying true to our love for clean and minimal design. We wanted to create something bold but subtle enough for everyday wear. We felt that our design styles complimented each other perfectly.

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