Born in 1976, Stephen Rautenbach's creative quality probably started when he was about a year old – building towers with blocks and knocking them down when they weren't perfect, tearing the page up when he went over a line when colouring in. It carried on when he was fortunate enough to attend Lawson Brown High in Port Elizabeth and was able to do a full-on art matric – ceramics, graphic design, textile design and painting.

 

Stephen studied Fine art at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth/Mandela Bay, under the guidance of the best teachers he could ever have wished for. 

 

After his formal studies, he moved up to Natal and, as resident artist at the PACE center in Port Shepstone, he was able to broaden his thinking while working with talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Moving on down to the Western Cape, he honed his technical skills working as an artisan, fettler in a bronze foundry in Stellenbosch.

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This was followed with a stint as a guest lecturer at Stellenbosch University and four and a half years teaching sculpture and drawing at Somerset College.

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Currently, Stephen has his own gallery and studios in Stellenbosch.