Thanks to Tim Smith

It is strange how chance conversations can lead to wonderful opportunities and change the course of one's life....

While I was making my first Ndebele wallhanging 92-11 in 1992, I had some embroideries framed at an art gallery in East London.   Tim Smith, the manager of the gallery was very interested when I told him about this Ndebele wallhanging which I was making and he was very keen to see it....   I showed him when it was finished and I was gobsmacked when he invited me early in 1993 to participate in a joint art exhibition with Daph Allam, a wellknown painter in East London........!   Needless to say, my legs were jelly, I was totally out of breath and I was hyperventilating....!    We were each assigned one long wall in the gallery to fill with our work, I had 2 1/2 months to work for this exhibition........     Another fools rush in moment for me.......    I took a deep breath and accepted the invitation before the enormity of it all hit me....

I started work immediately but soon panic set in as I was not used to designing under such pressure, I really battled and felt out of my depth.    I suppose it is the same problem that authors encounter....   Feeling very dispondent one day, tired and out of sorts, I phoned Tim and said that I could not do it, that I was battling........!    He just calmly said that everything was planned and I must calm down and WORK!     I was happy with some of the designs, others were rather mediocre but I had a deadline, a very long wall to fill  and just had to try my best.     I managed to make 10 quilts and decided to include 92-11 as I was so exhausted and battled with "quantity"!    I suppose I was a bit overwhelmed....

The designs were very bold and I loved working with strong colours which were not part of my normal palette.   I worked very long hours and fell asleep a few times over my sewing machine as the opening night drew closer.   The quilts were al quilted in the ditch, not nearly enough for my fussy standards of today, but I honestly also did not have enough time to do more!   

  

Some of the 1993 Art Exhibition Quilts - East London



I can still remember the day that I loaded the quilts in the car and took it to the gallery and helped Tim to hang it.   The other wall was filled with all of Daph's beautiful paintings and she just looked like such a pro.   I was interviewed by the press and was so scared that I might sound stupid....   This art world was all so new to me....

The opening night was sponsored by the Dept of Arts and Education with the Director delivering THE SPEECH, he was very kind in his summation of my work for which I was very grateful.   My "wall" was filled with one big splash of colour and the quilts looked bright and very good under the gallery lights.     I was so chuffed yet very anxious at the same time as I did not really know what to expect of the public....   Of the quilters, only my group attended and gave me much needed support.......    Willem was so proud and supportive (and still is).

This exhibition was the first time that my work was in the spotlight.    I found it exhilerating but also very frightening as I felt that I was under scrutiny and everybody was looking into my soul.   It however also put me onto a different quilting path and it was instrumental in me re-defining my African roots.   Since this exhibition, I became aware of how deeply rooted in this Country I am.    I also received so much support and encouragement from artists in the art world for which I was and still am incredibly grateful.  In those early years when I was taking very tentative steps, they gave me the support and courage to continue on this new road of discovery.  

I became increasingly interested in South African themes and I chose machine applique as my preferred medium of construction.     I loved the symmetry of Ethnic geometric designs and designing became easier the more I practised it....

At the time I was confronted with my own demons of not "fitting" in the normal quilting mould, but it was an experimental road which I had to travel to find my own way of visual expression in textiles.

I did not sell one quilt during the week of the exhibition, but then I received a phone call......  

Learning to Fly........

You might wonder about the title of my previous rambling....   In retrospect I realize how little I knew about quilting when I started teaching 23 years ago...., hence the title Fools rush in (where angels fear to tread....)!

I think we all have a tendency to reflect on life, past choices made and the journey we've had.    Some choices were good, others could/should have been different/better....!    I think my decision to teach quilting in 1988 was a good one.    In the process I have learnt much  more than the students from me as I had to continuously produce new and fresh ideas which was imperative if I wanted to be a successful teacher.   It sent me on a solitary road of discovery, not just creatively but also so much of myself.   I discovered talents which I never dreamt I had....

I was fortunate that I was already a member of the Kaffrarian Quilters' Guild (now East Coast Quilters' Guild) when we moved from King Williams' Town to East London in 1991as it immediately offered a group of prospective friends...!    We all settled down very quickly this time and I formed a small quilt group.    We had weekly get togethers on Wednesday mornings and had great fun.   I also continued teaching from home.

Beverley Swemmer, me (yes I had dark hair!) and Jayne McComb.   The 4th member Margaret Brown took the photograph!

This small group offered me so much support with the new direction where quilting was taking me.   I became intrigued by the work of Esther Mahlangu, a Ndebele mural artist living in the north of the old Transvaal.    An established artist in her community with beautiful mural art, she was invited to exhibit her work in Paris, France which catapulted her onto the world art scene.   I also remember the BMW which she decorated with Ndebele art which was published in the newspapers.   I was totally smitten with this lovely, strong geometric designs.    I soon tried my hand at a very bold wallhanging (I now think it was rather ugly) which I made for our house.    I designed it full scale on paper, fused all the motifs onto the background and satin stitched around all the motifs with black thread to create the black lines which is an integral part of the Ndebele art.   I quilted in the ditch, in hindsight it could have looked so much better if I added more quilting.   I regard this quilt which I made in 1992 as the platform for my work to follow.
  

92-11   My first Ndebele style wallhanging made in 1992

 Making 92-11 soon lead to an exciting invitation of which I will tell you next time.....

Photographs.......

I have uploaded some images of quilts and projects on the Gallery page, more to follow.....   I will give you details about it all as My Journey unfolds.....
You can click on the photograph and it will enlarge automatically.    The quality of some of the older photographs are not too good, sorry about that.
Enjoy............

Fools rush in .....

Growing up in Knysna, I was blessed with emotional security in my parental home and a very special childhood friend.    Everything came easy and I was never forced out of my comfort zone....  I had however no problem to move to Port Elizabeth after marrying Willem and start a family as this was a natural progression of life.   All of this was to change early in 1988 when Willem was transferred and I was forced out of my comfort zone......      One of the biggest lessons which I learnt during this time, was that I had to make the effort to reach out to make friends as I was the new face in town.....

Moving to King William's Town early in 1988, was my first tentative steps into creativity and becoming a serious quiter......     I discovered latent talents of which I was unaware........   Indeed exciting....  

As I was very lonely in my new environment, I decided to offer patchwork lessons to make friends!   One prospective student, Louise Els responded to my advertisement in the local newspaper and I decided to start with her and was hoping that it would soon take off by word of mouth.   It soon did and Louise brought friends along and soon classes were very busy ..........     Soon I was teaching various methods of patchwork, hand & machine applique, shadow applique, hand embroidery and soon candlewicking followed.   

During this time I joined the Kaffrarian Quilters' Guild in East London which exposed me to the quilting fraternity in South Africa.  The copyright issue was raised in quilting circles and I decided to draw my own designs for candlewicking and embroidery classes.   The students were so taken by my designs that they encouraged me to compile a candlewicking pattern book which I sold in the area.    I designed patchwork and candlewick quilts for the students of which I would give them scaled down diagrams in ink for them to work from....   This gave me the freedom to create my own work and I regard this as the platform of my quilting career.  

During this time, wonderful women from all walks of life touced my life and we formed special friendships as we learnt so much form each other.    I was very touched when they organized a huge farewell party for me when we left town....   Yes, we were transferred again....    

  Friends Wilma Pitt, Maureen Burger, me and Elza Conradie pictured left and Heather Farrow and Cynthia Olivier on the right at the farewell party in the Library Hall in King William's Town.