IMAGES OF POWER

Images of Power reflects my facination with the Bushman/San culture.I spend as much time as I can in our Drakensberg mountains and there are many many Bushman paintings in the caves and on the walls of overhangs. It is believed that the Bushman paintings reflected their spiritual life and not their daily lives ,hence some very strange paintings which could have been done under the influence of hallucogenic drugs. No one really knows.

Size : approx 90 cm X 1 meter.

Summer Magic was one of the first curved piecing quilts I had ever done - and one of the most interesting in terms of techinque and result. I have been using this method successfully ever since- but usually combining it with freehand curved piecing to make up the individual section of the quilt.

Size: approx 1.00 m X 1.00 meter












Dust of Africa was an exercise in precision for
me- I cant sew a straight seam to save my life!
It has a strong African feel- very reminicent of the Natal Drakensberg where it was made.I was on holiday at the time and cannot go anywhere for more than a day or so without my sewing machine and a bit of fabric.All the fabric was hand dyed
fabric from AMAFU ,South Africa.

Size : approx 1.00m X 75 cm








ADINKRA DREAMS was made using the inspiration of the symbols of the Ashanti people of West Africa. I have used the colours of Africa and tried to emulate the casual attitude to precision that is prevalent throughout Africa.
THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS STRAIGHT IN AFRICA! Who cares as long as it works!

Size : approx 50 X 75 cm

STRAIGHT OUT OF AFRICA!

This could only happen in Africa! This market is outside Pretoria on the side of the road which leads to CAIRO, EGYPT! Seriously, this is the main road which leads to the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The cloth behind the sign is not hand painted - they printed in one of our local mills and very often find their way to these markets where they are sold at exhorbitant prices to the tourists. 

INSPIRATION

Sometimes I get inspiration from walking amongst the stalls at the roadside markets. This one is outside Pretoria, South Africa.They are geared for the tourist and much of the stuff one sees here comes from other parts of Africa. 

DESIGN WALL

My design wall is made of soft board and covered with felt. The work on the wall belongs to two students in a Rosalie Dace class.

If ever you get the chance to do a class with Rosalie Dace, grab it. She is a wonderful teacher and has encouraged many a student to dig deep into themselves and produce stunning work. 

MY STUDIO

Part of my studio with the studio boss, who has to examine every piece of fabric or quilt by sleeping on it. The studio has a huge sliding door onto a roofed patio and another huge window on the other side so there is plenty of natural light as well as 6 double flourescent tubed lights with colour corrected tubes. Its the only way I can work at night. 

THERE BE DRAGONS IN AFRICA

The title refers to the dragon in the quilt and was inspired by African traditional art work. All the fabric was hand dyed and hand screened by AMAFU from South Africa. This quilt is now in a private collection. 

Ghost Dancers

Ghost Dancers is a small piece 50 X 50 cm in size and completely machined. The background is one piece of fabric which is a piece of hand painted AMAFU fabric and overlaid with synthetic organza.This was then heavily quilted with metallic thread. 

Savannah Ghosts

This quilt was machine pieced using AMAFU hand dyed fabric from South Africa. You cant see it in this photograph but there are two kudu (buck) in the bottom left hand corner- hence "Savannah Ghosts".