Silvering
A new exhibition at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town, opening 1 May, a collaboration with Eva Schermbrucker, my gorgeous granddaughter, aged 4.
Save the Date
Invitation
Artist’s statement
‘ To paint is always to start at the beginning again ’
Philip Guston
Silver-haired, I stand at the cusp of my 70s and yet every time I start a painting, it is as if I know nothing. Nothing feels transferable. How I yearn to build consecutively on skills, on interests, on a recognisable oeuvre. This evades me. The voices inside me tug this way and that. I have little idea what will emerge. I want to be surprised. Why make art if you know what it will be before you start? The stories emerge. I watch Eva, my granddaughter, as she picks up a crayon or a brush and she is the true beginner. How important was that first mark made by the first man or woman to pick up a stick here on earth? I think I know. I think I see it. I watch Eva, now 4. Picasso said something along the lines of needing to paint for 40 years before you can paint like a child. He was lying. No one can paint like a child because a child does not care about art, lucky child. A child paints. A child draws. It is serious work. Art is a verb, not a noun. How lucky I am to be able to dip into the flood of works Eva produces. From simple scrawls to named scribbles to the emergence of the figure. Her imaginative contributions are not an add-on to this exhibition but central. They imbue air and breath and light to my work. They answer fundamental questions. I am in awe. She is my silver lining. Apologies for the cliché. After CURTAINS FOR PETER I went out to find actual silver cloth on which to paint. Why cloth I ask myself. Because it is forgiving. It can be sewn, cut, added to, subtracted from. When it hangs it moves in the breeze. When it is primed with rabbit skin glue it distorts, stretches, becomes skin. Some people would call it feminine. All I know is that I get stage fright when I start on a canvas. Those horizontal and vertical edges!!!! Consolations in widowhood: Eva, my sons and their wives, friends, the mountain. My double-peaked Mt. St Muse under which I sleep. A giggling passing nod to Cézanne and his Mont Sainte-Victoire. I have a pink tennis umpire chair in my garden especially made for mountain worship. A Neolithic figurine of great tenderness, the sleeping lady from Malta who stands for me. A pun in words, a visual pun. There are many others. In thread, drawn or painted or glued. Ball point pens, crayons, oils, acrylics, thick or thin, inks, resin…everything but. That could be an alternative title to the exhibition. Figurative or not. Every piece of work can be itself. It does not have to be composed. Collating this exhibition was the true composition. It created unexpected connections between the different works. A sewn thread continues in a dotted drawn line, a button speaks to a red blob, a smudge of green abuts a figure in green, Eva dressed as Peter Pan. Like I said I like surprises. Until now I am all in pieces. Chance brings things together. Maybe in the future, SNAP! there will be integration. I wait for the day.
In the back room (flotsam and jetsam) a group of works made 6 years ago based on anything manmade I found on the Arniston, de Mond and Milnerton beaches. Shoes, bottles, a glove, knots of fishing line, braids, bottle tops, a condom, chunks of styrofoam. From the comical to the toxic. A counter to pretty pebbles, seaweeds, mermaids purses and shells that felt trite and palled. An ecological message? Yes, but also forms that rhymed and resonated, a personal gestalt.
Silvering paintings
The paintings below are numbered according to the position of hanging. They are sewn onto a strip of webbing in curated groups or lines. Should anyone want to buy an individual work they can be cut off from the webbing on either end after the exhibition.
A.
A1. 
B.
B1. 
B2. 
B3. 
B4. 
B5. 
B6. 
B7. 
B8. 
B9. 
SOLD
B10. 
B11. 
C.
C1. 
C2. 
C3. 
C4. 
C5. 
C6. 
C7. 
C8. 
C9. 
C10. 
C11. 
C12. 
C13. 
C14. 
C15. 
D.
D1. 
D2. 
SOLD
D3. 
D4. 
D5. 
D6. 
D7. 
D8. 
D9. 
D10. 
D11. 
D12. 
D13. 
D14. 
E.
E1. 
E2. 
E3. 
E4. 
E5. 
E6. 
E7. 
E8. 
E9. 
E10. 
E11. 
E12. 
E.13. 
F.
The top row and bottom row of F is shown separately in two photographs because I cannot fit them on the display wall in my studio space. At the exhibition they will be shown one above the other on the tallest wall.
F1. 
F2. 
F3. 
F4. 
F5. 
F6. 
F7. 
F8. 
F9. 
F10. 
F11. 
F12. 
F13. 
F14. 
G.
G1. 
Stitchpoems
Are they collages, ink drawings or poems? All three, I suppose but since one can stitch thoughts together, draw in thread and paint in words, the point is moot. For lack of a better description I have called them stitchpoems.
Handmade fynbos ink, fabric, thread on 100% rag paper, A5 or thereabouts
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
SOLD
9. 
SOLD
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
SOLD
SOLD16.
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
SOLD
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
SOLD
38. 
39. 
40. 
This led to creating more and more, most with quotes by great thinkers and with more colourful inks, watercolours etc. (If there is no name then it is my own fleeting thought or poem.)
41. 
SOLD
SOLD42. 
43. 
44. 
SOLD
45. 
46. 
47. 
48. 
49. 
50. 
51. 
52. 
53. 
54. 
55. 
56. 
57. 
SOLD
58. 
SOLD
59. 
60. 
SOLD
61. 
62. 
63. 
64. 
SOLD
65. 
SOLD
66. 
SOLD
67. 
68. 
69. 
70. 
SOLD
71. 
72. 
73. 
74. 
75. 
SOLD
76. 
77. 
78. 
77. 
78. 
SOLD
79. 
80. 
81. 
82. 
83. 
84. 
SOLD
85. 
SOLD
86. 
87. 
88. 
89. 
99. 
SOLD
100. 
SOLD
101. 
102. 
SOLD
103. 
SOLD
104. 
SOLD
105. 
106. 
107. 
108. 
SOLD
109. 
SOLD
110. 
111. 
SOLD
112. 
113. 
SOLD
114. 
115. 
SOLD
116. 
SOLD
117. 
SOLD
118. 
SOLD
119. 
120. 
SOLD
121. 
121. 
122. 
123. 
124. 
125. 
SOLD
126. 
127. 
SOLD
128. 
129. 
130. 
131. 
132. 
SOLD
133. 
SOLD
134. 
135. 
136. 
137. 
138. 
139. 
140. 
SOLD
141. 
142. 
143. 
SOLD
144. 
Strays that escaped the net…..
145. 
146. 
SOLD
147. 
148. 
149. 
150. 
Flotsam and jetsam
1. Acrylic, ink and oils on cloth 3m 78cmm X 950cm
2. Ink and stitching on cloth 990cm x 1m
3. Pastel on rice paper 35 drawings 40cm X 50cm
3.1 
3.2 
3.3 
3.4 
3.5 
3.6 
3.7 
3.8 
3.9 
3. 10 
3.11
3.12 
3.13
3.14 
3.15 
3.16 
3.17 
3.18 
3.19 
3.20 
3.21 
3.22 
3.23 
3.24 
3. 25 
3.26 
3.27 
3.28 
3.29 
3.30 
3.31 
3.32 
3.33
3.34 
3.35 
Curtains for Peter
An exhibition of works at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town, from 29 December 2021 to 22 January 2022.
When we strewed Peter’s ashes in the sea at Arniston at his favourite fishing spot they were free to spread wherever they were taken by the tides. In that spirit, the works below are free to anybody who wants them. Not only can they thus be enjoyed by more people as a reminder of the lovely person we have lost, it gives me the physical and mental space to carry on and keep on writing and painting.
So, feel free to scroll through the images below and choose from the available works however many you want or can accommodate!
There are a number of provisos:
1. Family members and close friends will be given first dibs. Everybody else can only choose from those works available AFTER 30 DECEMBER
2. Make your own arrangements to pick up the work on the 22 January from 6 Spin Street. I cannot be responsible for this. Only family abroad will have the luxury of my posting them works at their expense.
3. As you will see below there are a few items, mostly objects, which are not up for grabs.
4. Please email me at vivicschermbrucker@gmail.com with your choice(s). Family and close friends from 20 till 28 December and everybody else from 30 December till 22 January. Please identify your choice clearly with the roman numeral of the curtain rod and the title in words. I will identify which ones have been taken on the website on a continual basis. Works that are taken will have the name of the new owner in italics next to the title.
5. To get an idea of the size of the work for those unable to view them in person, take note that each curtain rod is 2.5 meters.
6. Works will be supplied with rings but no rod. New owners can hang them on a rod of their own as is or can remove the rings and have them framed in any way they like.
CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO POP THEM OPEN FOR A CLOSER VIEW
Curtains for Peter I
consisting of (left to right)
1. Boat JILL AND LESLEY
2. Red DENNIS AND COBIE
3. Ribboned GWENDOLYN
Curtains for Peter II
consisting of ( left to right)
1. Heads up and aside KRIS BERG
2. Holy stupidities CARL PALMER
3. Cloth drop BRAD
4. Red circle JANET
5. Tickets for Peter KRIS BERG
6. Rock pile MINA
Curtains for Peter III
consisting of (left to right)
1. Left-handed blues MINA
2. Poem drop 6 DENNIS
3. Poem drop 8 FIIFI
4. Poem drop 12 FIIFI
5. Petering out ANYA AND MIKE
6. Out of the blue DEBRA JACKSON
Curtains for Peter IV
consisting of (left to right)
1. Peter’s memoirs KATE AND STEYE
2. Dark eight CATHY AND JONTY
3. Pyjama pants
4. Counting blessings KATE AND STEYE
5. Less PETER AND NICOLE
6. Blank poem PETER AND NICOLE
Curtains for Peter V
consisting of (left to right)
1. Blue shirt LYNNE
2. Blue stamp drop 1 KRIS BERG
3. This is a painting PETER AND NICOLE
4. Poem drop 3 DENNIS
5. Eva and fried egg flowers TANYA
6. Elfies 1 JILL AND LESLEY
7. Poem SHIRLEY
Curtains for Peter VI
consisting of ( left to right)
1. Haversack off JILL AND LESLEY
2. Poem drop 4 ROBERT
3. Haversack on BEN AND ELAINE
Curtains for Peter VII
consisting of (left to right)
1. Yeoville water towers poem PETER AND NICOLE
2. Yeoville water towers SUE KRAMER
3, 4, 5 Art history BRAD
6. Poem and cloth drop EL-ARNAOUT
7. Figures of eight BEN AND ELAINE
8. Pale eight LIZ AND DON
Curtains for Peter VIII
consisting of ( left to right)
1. Stray thoughts JILL AND LESLEY
2. Drop of a hat DAYNA
3. Are you? Aren’t you?
4. Cork in sock
5. Poem drop 5 EL-ARNAOUT
6. Heads up (blocks) LOU AND PHILIP
Curtains for Peter IX
consisting of (left to right)
1. Elfies 2 NOAH AND NATASHA
2. Every cloud JERRY
3. Cerberus RODNEY
4. Khaki poem drop EL-ARNAOUT
5. Leavers
6. Cloth and poem drop ROBERT
7. Poem drop 11 EL-ARNAOUT
8. Doodling ROBERT
Curtains for Peter X
consisting of ( left to right)
1. Absence front CATHY AND JONTY
2. Alphabet LOVELL
3. Insect SUE WHITELAW
4. Sailing ship LIZ AND DON
5. Typewriter orgasm LIA RASPOORT
Curtains for Peter XI
consisting of (left to right)
1. Scab
2. Poem drop 2 EL-ARNAOUT
3. Sock
4. Noah and Peter, Tibet DEXTER
5. Immigrant child SAHAR
6. Blue vivant LILA KIBBEL
7. Post box SARAH WHITELAW
8. Improvisation TANYA
9. Acid poem DEBORAH JAMES
10. Absent stamp poem EMMA KIBEL
11. Finished
Curtains for Peter XII
consisting of (left to right)
1. Present JANET
2. A second LINDA
3. Up MARK HOEBEN
4. Blue stamp drop 2 JILL AND LESLEY
5. Absence chair CECILIA ROBINS SINGER
6. Temper LOU AND PHILIP
Curtains for Peter XIII
consisting of ( left to right)
1. Dollops FIIFI
2. Door MARY BURTON
3. Cloth and poem drop BRAD
4. Short green poem drop SARAH WHITELAW
5. Mercurochrome stamp drop DEBORAH JAMES
6. Absence bed LIONEL MBAYIWA
Curtains for Peter XIV
consisting of (left to right)
1. Memories GWENDOLYN
2. Red stamp drop KRIS BERG
3. Poem drop 9 EL-ARNAOUT
4. Poem drop 17 EL-ARNAOUT
5. Heart ALISTAIR
6. Poem drop 7 DENNIS
7. Yellow poem drop ROBERT
Curtains for Peter XV
consisting of (left to right)
1. Blue stamp drop 3 SHIRLEY GELCER
2. Poem waiting for words LINDA
3. Flimsy ground JERRY AND DAYNA
4. Peter’s birds BEN AND ELAINE
5. After the fall YVONNE REYNOLDS
Curtains for Peter XVI
consisting of (left to right)
1. Porcupine Hills LYNETTE
2. Porcupine Hills poem PETER AND NICOLE
3. Poem berry drop MARY BURTON
4. Robertson view JILL AND LESLEY
5. Because NOAH AND NATASHA
Curtains for Peter XVII
consisting of (left to right)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. DNA SUE WHITELAW
6. Bottling to mastery REVIVA
7. Up poem MARK HOEBEN
8. Poem drop 20 SUE WHITELAW
9. Thin red line PETER AND NICOLE
10. Pink poem drop EL-ARNAOUT
We 3, 2 Acres and a donkey
Recent large works
These five paintings were exhibited at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town from 8 Feb to 2 March 2019.
Painting One: We l 2 x 1.5 m, ink and acrylic on cloth
R9,700
Detail:
Painting Two We 2 2 X 1.5 m, ink and acrylic on cloth
R9,700 SOLD
Details:
Painting three We 3 2 X 1.5 m, ink and acrylic on cloth
R9,700
Painting four 2 Acres and a Donkey 7 x 2 meters
ink, acrylic, rabbit skin glue and oil paint on cloth
R22,000
Details:
Painting five Sliver (detail) 600mm X 5 m, ink
and water colour
R8,800
washed up
on the beaches of Arniston
Rope, twine, fishing line, sinkers, wooden scraps, cigarette butts-mostly filters, masses of butts, shoes, soles, ice trays or parts thereof, divers gloves, rubber cords, floats, meat trays, glass bottles and bottle tops of all descriptions, plastic everythings from styrafoam cups to netting to milk bottles and eye drop bottles, knives and forks…
pastels on paper 2017/2018
on the beaches of Woodbridge Island
Another haul including condoms, ropes, a hair extension, battered plastic bottles, rope, wood, shoes ( always shoes) a glove
at de Mond
Adding colour to another depressing but strangely satisfyingly shaped haul of washed-up trash. Why I like these battered shapes…something lodging in the primitive brain, I suspect. Perhaps a kind of gestalt. I move closer and closer to the two greats in my pantheon: Morandi and Guston. I have come to them from the side like a crab. A frontal appropriation has always failed by sending me into a withering and drying up. How can I possibly compare the muddy puddle on my paper before me with their masterpieces? Now in the beach trash on which I concentrate they are two specks, blurs in either corner of my eye, right and left. I could describe them as ghostly attendants but best to ignore them and let the wordless drawing process itself usher me in. I read somewhere this weekend that the self can only be found in those moments when you pay attention to this rather than that i.e. in the choice one makes among the myriad sensations flooding the brain at any single moment. I think drawing/ painting/ writing helps to solidify self because one is in a trance of choosing and choosing. That is why it feels so good ( most of the time).
noospheric* nights
an exhibition of 46 dark watercolours
Noosphere: The third phase of evolutionary development of the Earth following the geosphere (inanimate matter) and biosphere (biological life). Noosphere refers to human consciousness and thought.
Each work is a single image of a night scene painted in watercolour and ink on cloth.
The central painted area of each work is approximately 25cm by 25cm while the overall size of the works vary slightly. A cloth label on which the title is typed is hand sewn below the image. The titles incorporate unusual words which tantalise, amuse and encourage engagement rather than explain the works.
The paintings are sewn onto black painted wooden dowels from which they hang. If purchasers desire to frame them at their own cost, box frames are suggested.
Each painting is for sale for R2,000.00
Click on the image to enlarge.
1. Needless to Say, Chiaroscuro. A Paralipsis SOLD
Paralipsis: drawing attention to something by affecting to dismiss it e.g. ‘not to mention’.
2. An Attack of Ataraxia
Ataraxia: freedom from emotional disturbance; tranquillity
3. Stone Ballicatter
Ballicatter: ice along the shoreline; frozen moisture around the mouth and nose
4. Desipient Night
Desipience: relaxed dallying in enjoyment of foolish trifles
5. Where are our Antiscians?
Antiscians: people who live on the same meridian but on the opposite side of the equator
e.g. our antiscians would be somewhere in Libya or the Mediterranean
6. Ubiety Distilled
Ubiety: whereness; a sense of having a definite location at any given time
7. A Handsel for the New Year
Handsel: a gift or token for good luck; good wishes for the new year; foretaste
8. Lagom
Lagom: perfectly sufficent ( Swedish)
9. Victory over Velleity SOLD
Velleity: merely wishing or desiring without any effort or advance towards realisation
10. Schlimmbesserung Averted?
Schlimmbesserung: an improvement that makes things worse
11. Perlustrating the Turf
Perlustrating: to travel through and inspect thoroughly especially in an official capacity
12. What the Poshlost Spurn
Poshlost: banality, vulgarity and sham ( Russian)
13. Saudade under A Full Moon SOLD
Saudade: ‘that mysterious melancholy which sighs at the back of every joy’ Roy Campbell (Portuguese)
14. Basking in the Kumatage
Kumatage: reflected light from sun or moon on a body of water
15. A Still Life on the Verge of Lalochezia SOLD
Lalochezia: emotional relief gained by using indecent or vulgar language
16. Conceivably Pluviose SOLD
Pluviose: relating to or characterised by rain; rainy
17. Amnesia Reified SOLD
Reify: to convert an abstraction into something concrete
18. Caliginous Accumulation
Caliginous: misty, dark, dim, obscure
19. Delitescent Healing SOLD
Delitescent: lying hidden; latent
20. Coffee Table Apophenia
Apophenia: the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data
21. Really? Tu Quoque!
Tu quoque: ‘Thou too’; retorting a charge upon one’s accuser ( Latin)
22. A Lychnobite of Note. A Fan
Lychnobite: one who turns night into day
23. A Cynosure by Name
Cynosure: something that attracts attention by its brilliancy or beauty; ‘a guiding star’
24. No Need for Anacampserote SOLD
Anacampserote: a herb feigned to restore departed love
25. The Connection is Presque Vu SOLD
Presque vu: the sensation of being on the brink of an epiphany; ‘on the tip of your tongue’
26. Somnifugous Clutter SOLD
Somnifugous: driving away sleep
27. Chavish Encased in Glass and Silenced
Chavish: a chattering or prattling noise of many persons speaking together; a noise made by a flock of birds
28. Serendipity or Zemblanity? Who Can Tell? SOLD
Zemblanity: the opposite of serendipity; the inevitable discovery of what we would rather not know
29. Hardly a Case of Plutomania SOLD
Plutomania: excessive or abnormal desire for wealth; insanity marked by delusions of wealth
30. Murky Maieutics
Mauieutic: dialectic method practiced by Socrates by interrogation and insisting on logical reasoning
( from Greek word for midwifery)
31. Kitchen Antinomy
Antinomy: contradiction between two statements, both obtained by correct reasoning; conflict, contrast
32. Two More Arrivistes on Our Street SOLD
Arriviste: one who is bent of ‘arriving’; a person who has recently acquired wealth or success
33. A Trilemma of Note: Travel, Property or Tea? SOLD
Trilemma: a dilemma involving three alternatives instead of two
34. Zaftig, with Quiet Authority, He Takes in All SOLD
Zaftig: pleasingly plump (Yiddish)
35. Flight to the View of the Tramontanes SOLD
Tramontane: a person who lives on the other side of or beyond the mountains
36. Concupiscible Berth for a Tiny Voyager SOLD
Concupiscible: vehemently desirous
37. Crinum Cryptoscopophilia SOLD
Cryptoscopophilia: voyeurism
38. The Elozable Viola French SOLD
Elozable: amenable to flattery
39. Holy Crap! My Ambassadors are Bleezed!
Bleezed: drunk
40. The Thalweg is a Slippery Slope
Thalweg: a line on a map connecting the lowest points of a valley; the middle of a waterway
that serves as a boundary line between states
41. Nikhedonia
Nikhedonia: the pleasure of anticipating victory or success
42. With Sprezzatura
Sprezzatura: studied carelessness; the appearance of being done without effort
43. Finding Dolorifuge
Dolorifuge: something that banishes or mitigates grief
44. Logodaedalus in our Midst SOLD
Logodaedalus: one who is cunning with words. A perfect example is Shakespeare
45. Glandaceous Light SOLD
Glandaceous: acorn coloured
46. A Quaquaversal World SOLD
Quaquaversal: dipping, pointing, or occurring in every direction
The unusual words that appear in these titles come from the book,
‘From Afterwit to Zemblanity, 100 endangered words brought to life’
by Simon Hertnon ( New Holland Press)
Domestic Associations
an exhibition of rag books
Each rag book is made up of 3 or more pages painted in watercolour and ink, glimpses into my home world. The works include a handcrafted wooden hanger. The pages are turned with cloth tabs and viewers can choose which page they wish to display.
Click on the image to enlarge.
1. Above and below R2,000.00 SOLD
2. Dreaming stuff R2,000.00
3. Boxing R2,000.00
4. Dresser R2,000.00
5. Hanging R2,000.00
6. Peter and the animals R2,000.00 SOLD
7. Sally’s lemons R2,000.00
8. At the station R2,400.00 SOLD
9. Donald’s thoughts R2,400.00 SOLD
10. For you, Philip, for you R2,000.00
11. Glass ceiling R2,000.00 SOLD
12. Mantelpiece R2,000.00 SOLD
13. OK R2,000.00
14. Pluto’s books R2,000.00 SOLD
15. Side by side R2,400.00
16. The lion and the 3 of us R2,400.00
17. Trains R2,800.00 SOLD
18. Wedding plans R2,000.00
19. Vessels R2,400.00 SOLD
20. Under the watchful gaze of Mister Edward Lear SOLD
Domestic Excursions
an exhibition of rag books
Each rag book is made up of 3 or more pages painted in watercolour and ink, reflecting cherished objects from my home in the wider world. The works include a handcrafted wooden hanger. The pages are turned with cloth tabs and viewers can choose which page they wish to display.
Click on the image to enlarge.
1. At Fargo’s, Salt River R2,400.00
2. Babar goes to Rosmead Primary School R2,800.00
3. In the streets of the American presidents R2,400.00 SOLD
4. Outing in the Cuore R2,400.00 SOLD
5. Outing in the half-loaf R2,000.00
6. Sailboat, Endlovini, Khayelitsha R3,600.00 SOLD
7. Visiting Captain’s cafe, Belvedere Road R3,600.00
8. West Coast sortie R3,600.00 SOLD
Domestic Associations & Domestic Excursions
Artist’s statement
For Ulrich who would have been here like a shot and whom I am going to miss forever.
Everything’s a story. My life, a myriad of stories trailing behind me: childhood, MA in Fine Art, my husband and two sons, books, books, books, a discovered penchant to write, a career in children’s books with a number of publications clattering along the cobbles over my shoulder. Each one tied to a string that makes for the bundle I hold in my fist. Colourful strings.
There are 28 stories on exhibition. A couple even have something you could describe as a plot, others are merely images that by being sewn together provide the possibilities of plot.
This is the story of how these rag books were made:
It starts like so many of my stories, rummaging. This time at a church fete. Our Lady Help of Christians. I am holding in my hand creamy cloth, scrunchy, yet soft. It has a light shine. It have no idea why I want it or what I will do with it but the feel of it, like a tiny electric charge, transmits some unknown potential. I have to have it – this is despite many pieces of unused cloth jamming up the cupboards in our small house.
At home, I snip off a square and look at it blankly. At last it says “Draw me’ and I run a black fineliner over it. The line skates off, pirouettes and stops. More and more lines, loops, slashes, scribbles. The cloth draws beautifully.
What about paint? I bring out an old watercolour box that I’ve had since my student days. A glass of water, a brush and it’s pops and blobs and streaks and wobbles. One transparent pale wash overlaps the next. The colour shapes remain discreet, the delicate edges crisp and clear and fine. There is air between them. Thank you, Our Lady.
So let’s start…Except I need some shape, I need a story. A friend is sewing a rag book for babies. We should have rag books for adults, I say, idly chattering, not thinking it through. I begin elaborating. What about cloth book newspapers? Imagine passengers getting onto the plane with their cloth newspapers draped in their hands. On their laps as blankets. Turned pages on their neighbour’s lap? The Watercolour Cloth Press? Yes, why not?
But I’m no newspaper head. What subject matter should I paint? Another friend, an artist, looking around my kitchen. Why don’t you paint all this? she suggests, and I do. I start right where I am because there is a welter of possibilities lying around in heaps at arm’s reach. The endless source matches the stream of paintings I am itching to paint. Then, the streaking, the blobbing, the scribbling in my Zozo hut. Endless hours of it. One hundred and ten pages of that have made it here.
So that is why it’s domestic associations.
I am not only invested in my little cocoon of home. Eventually, the wider world calls. I take my silly domestic ‘objets’ out, I put them in the car, on the dashboard which functions as a mantelpiece of sorts, out, out, with me to the local café, to the reading club I run at Rosmead Central Primary School, with me to shop at Fargo’s in Salt River, with me to Endlovini in Khayelitsha. These are the domestic excursions.
And the other elements, the stamps, the hangers, the large ‘contents pages’, the cloth tags, all the bits and pieces grow from my life – what I have found, what is around, what friends have suggested, what my husband can and will do.
They say that every person, every author, every artist has really only one story in them which they tackle again and again from every direction. In retrospect, I can see how these works fit into a life-time’s interest in experimental formats and materials bridging the divide between genres and age-groups. The child in me and all the children I have written and illustrated for. The glorious riches of a private sensual life and the social urge, a desire to seed it – or perhaps more accurately, awaken it – in others. The freedom of the fine artist and the rigour of the illustrator. Somewhere in this territory, I hover.
So thank you to Our Lady Help of Christians, who helped me despite my not being a Christian, to Sue, to Lynne, to Peter, to Robert and to Jill who buys me paint when she goes on her travels and Pippa Firmin who schlepped me more cloth from the UK when Our Lady’s basket was empty.
The last story I will tell is not a story. It’s a poem of only a few words, and not a very good poem at that. If people get only this, I’ll have done my job.
The joy that is making, the joy that is painting.
REVIEW OF EXHIBITION IN CAPE TIMES 8 FEB 2017
