I am passionate about colour. My canvasses are seldom smaller than 1000mm x 750mm. I use acrylics and oils, always under - painting as it enlivens the work even if it is only a minute speck of colour that is visible. My subject matter is most often the human figure, but trees and landscapes hold enormous satisfaction for me.
Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any paintings or if you would like to commission me for something specific.
My approach to quilting is very spontaneous. I am inspired by colour, fabric and texture. My early quilts were machine-pieced and quilted by hand. I still machine-piece but have found someone who is happy to hand-quilt for me, that way I can get more quilts made. I thrive on the immediacy of 'quick' quilts and I often 'tie' them with embroidery threads rather than quilt them in the traditional way. There are so many wonderful ways to tear, cut and join fabrics and the end result is like a long-term, warm hug.
Langa Lapu quilt, inspired by the had-dyed fabrics from Langa Lapu in the Western Cape. Poplar Quilt, inspired by the colours of the sky and the Autumn leaves in the sunshine in Nieu Bethesda in 1997. Korea Quilt, made as a gift to someone who showed enormous kindness and hospitality to me while I was in Korea in 2010. The quilt has African fabrics and one or two fabrics that were brought back from Korea. Alice’s Quilt, made for my daughter Alice’s 21st birthday. It incorporates some of her favourite pieces of fabric Jana’s quilt, made for a dear friend’s 60th birthday.
‘Quick quilt’ that is machine-pieced and ‘tied’ not hand-quilted. A very satisfying way to make a quilt without having to spend months hand quilting. I have made about 8 quilts in this manner. Another quick quilt made in response to a call to Quilters all over the world to help the victims of the Tsunami in Japan.
In April 2004, I was asked to help with the assembly of the Keiskamma Tapestry. It was a project inspired and started by Carol Hofmeyr in Hamburg, in the Eastern Cape. My brief was to find a simple and effective way to join the pieces of the tapestry that had been embroidered by women in the local community. Fortunately the ‘time line’ (it portrays highlights in the history of the Xhosa people in the Eastern Cape) had already been established before we started, by using numbers on each piece of embroidered fabric. Having helped with the first 20 metre section, and leaving measurements and procedures in place, I left the group of extraordinary, dedicated women to continue with another five 20 metre lengths. The tapestry is now the longest tapestry in the world - 120 metres and hangs in the Parliament Buildings in Cape Town.
I enjoy working on different projects and would welcome inquiries regarding ‘up-cycling’ that could give an existing wall, floor or piece of furniture a new life.
One of my strengths is finding creative solutions to what many people would regard as a huge or expensive problem. For example, when some tiles in our kitchen unexpectedly ‘lifted’, my solution was first to check that there was no serious underlying cause and once satisfied that it was simply inadequate gluing, I created mosaics using some of the original tile and adding mosaic tiles and pieces from old plates, mugs and cups. It has worked extremely well and I will never be concerned again if any other tiles get cracked or broken, they will simply be creatively repaired.
One of my greatest joys is finding old furniture and giving it new life. An old 1950/60’s wrought iron table and six chairs were given new life with a new mosaic cement board top.
An old sliding door, replaced with a new stack door left a gap that could not be matched as the tiles were too old. Mosaicking the gap provided a creative solution to the problem.
We got tired of having our house number stolen off the wall, so I mosaicked the number on instead. An old ‘Everite’ pot given a new personality with mirror pieces reflecting light and twinkling.
I am available for commissioned work, please feel free to contact me.
The wall is a painting/quilt/castle/cave/mosaic/river/mountain sculpture. Four stone masons became my paint brushes together with a man making the cement (doing the rough stuff) while I directed them and put some pieces of stone in myself, here and there. The making of this Wall gave me enormous pleasure and gives me pure joy looking at it. I don’t have a seascape or a mountain scape but THIS canvas is as close as I can get and it constantly changes with the light of the day. When it rains the water flows over it like a waterfall.
Over the past five years, I have been making life-size sculptures of hares, cats and dogs. The muse for my cat sculptures was a much loved family cat. After he died, I created a work dedicated to him and placed his ashes inside. If you would like to remember your pet in a unique way, please contact me. Choose from a variety of sculptures and finishes and have their name engraved, to remember forever.