- The Swerving Savannahs - Herewith we honour the grasslands of Southern Africa, all 847 indigenous species. This humble plant family is greatly overlooked and threatened due to development. Alan Paton describes in his book Cry Our Beloved Country (1948) "The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. stand upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men,...
- The Mosses -
We fell in love with the beauty of mosses after reading Elizabeth Gilberts novel “The Signature of All Things” The main character Alma Whittakers journey into botany,exploration and desire encouraged us to explore the importance of this tiny mostly unseen hero in the biospheres around us. These incredible plants intercept,retain and slowly release water into rivers,dams and ravines. Bryophytes comprise three distinct groups and unlike flowering plants, bryophytes have poorly developed internal tubes for transporting food and water. As a result, bryophytes are small plants, often abundant in wet places.
Scans of the mosses
The resulted cushion covers:
The Evolution team has a wonderful time exhibiting at at Maison et Objet in Paris, France. We had the chance to meet wonderful international artists and share some of our own nostalgic narratives.
Here is a glimpse at what was shown:
- Evolving the blueprints - Approximately two years ago I discovered an old guide book of the Melville Koppies close to where I live. This hand-typed book was compiled in 1967 for the Johannesburg Council for Natural History by Annabelle Lucas and Barbara Pike. It was called "Flowers of the Summer and Autumn Veld".The sketches in the book intrigued me and when my latest range started moving towards the beauty and importance of grasses,I decided to go and explore the "koppies". I then visited the South African Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria and was guided through the importance of our grasslands and also on the botanicals, some drawn by Sir John Herschel and his wife.This led us to the discovery of...
