It has been a long and sometimes frustrating journey, but every experience, good or bad, has contributed to where I am today. And I would not be here today without the influence of a very special person to whom I am most grateful.
My dream was to study art. From a very young age, people noticed my talent and said that I had an incredible gift. I wanted to use my gift, take advantage of it and not waste it. I wanted it to be seen and appreciated. What is more, I did not want my art to be merely aesthetically pleasing, but also useful. I still remember those early days in my quest of life, I smile fondly at them and I am grateful for the enthusiastic start they gave me. I am proud and pleased to say that they were not wasted.
I had always loved theatre. My family did not often have the time or money to go to shows, but when they did, and I was surrounded by beautiful sets and detailed props, I was in my element! Now I realise that I always had a subconscious desire to create props and sets. Every time we went to a show, I seemed to be the only one who appreciated the hard work and effort put into the backdrops and sets, and the essential atmosphere that they created.
Share their gifts
I had also worked for my school as a backstage and lighting hand. I loved seeing the hard work that an audience can never really fully appreciate. I learnt all the tricks and I found a certain thrill when watching performances and trying to figure out how they had created certain illusions. When I watched movies, I remember spending more time watching the ‘Behind the Scenes’, marvelling at how objects were designed and created, and how people teamed up to use each other’s talents and share their gifts to work together and create masterpieces.
The answer to creating this “useful” art came during one of my school art practicals. I made a sculpture of a human head and I realised the joy of using my hands to create something beautiful. That was when I decided to go into prop making. I was fortunate to receive a backstage pass at one of the shows, and I was given a tour of the set.
I remember being fascinated at seeing how everything worked, and it inspired me and made up my mind. A particular love of mine at the time was “The Phantom of the Opera”, mainly because of the beautiful theatre setting. When I was analysing the “Behind the Scenes”, I found out that the producers had made the entire theatre set. I always have a great deal of respect and admiration for movies that pour real work and effort into their films, and who make everything instead of purchasing it.
One day, while daydreaming about my future and looking at artworks and sets on the internet instead of doing my homework, I remember coming across the Royal Opera House in London. It was so beautiful with its sculptures, velvet curtains and chandeliers that I fell in love with it instantly.
I lost hope
I watched YouTube videos of prop-makers who worked there, and I was inspired by their talents, efforts and dedication. From that day on, the desire to work at this theatre became my absolute motivation and the driving force behind my work.
That was when I was seventeen. I approached the theatres in Durban where I lived, asking to watch and meet their prop makers, but I was laughed at because of my age. They didn’t even care to look at my potential talent. At school, I was very academic and intelligent, and I was told that I was too clever for such a low paid, amateur job.
Why not become a doctor or a lawyer? Why waste your intelligence on art? Slowly, I began to lose hope. That was when Margaret Hirsch came and completely influenced my life.
It was at my school’s Moms and Daughters Breakfast. She was the guest speaker and was a huge inspiration. She spoke to a group of about fifty of us, but it felt like her words were aimed straight at me. She described her difficulties and how she had persevered and overcome them.
She motivated and encouraged me. That day, I went home and decided to try sell my talent. My sketching was exceptional, and so I put a single advert on Gumtree offering to sketch pictures of people that could be emailed to me. Two months later I had sketched three portraits and had made over a thousand rand. This wasn’t very impressive to many, but it was a personal accomplishment.
Many more people had contacted me, but they had all pulled out as soon as they found out my age. I soon learned not to let this handicap me or my self esteem, and it drove me to improve my talents to prove that age doesn’t influence skill. Every cent that I made I put towards my college funds.
Dreams came true
That was how I started. My parents couldn’t afford to send me to university, but thanks to Margaret Hirsch’s inspiration, I was able to earn enough to pay for a portion of the funds. The rest I was fortunate enough to receive through an art bursary (The company that sponsored me had heard of me through my ‘business’).
I studied at the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art, and suddenly my dreams were coming true! I continued sketching whilst studying, and I was put into contact with several other artists and even other prop-makers.
Finally, I got my first job as a set designer. It was small- only for the University’s show, but it was an achievement. After that, life raced forward. Other theatre producers watched the show and I began creating props and sets for larger projects. When I graduated, I approached a film company. However, I was young and inexperienced, and several times I suffered disappointment.
Then I decided to mention my success as an artist at such a young age on my CV. It was the convincing that the producers needed, and I was able to participate in the construction of the set of a movie, the first of many to come. It was extremely satisfactory, and in many ways I felt that I had succeeded and been successful in meeting my goals. However, I remember that sometimes as I would be working on a set, I would let my mind slip and wander through the magnificent auditorium of the Royal Opera House.
I told myself that I should be satisfied where I was. I reminded myself that it would be extremely difficult to work for an international theatre of its size and importance. Yet not only did the longing for it return to me time and time again, so did the words of Margaret Hirsch. She told me all those years ago that I could be anything, accomplish anything, fulfil any dream- as long as I strived to it and believed in myself. So I thought to myself, “Why not?”
Encouraging words
I am now ninety. I am old. However, I am also 100 per cent satisfied. I have accomplished my dream of over seventy years ago. Competition was tough when I first arrived in London, but I persevered and fought for the position over and over, never giving up or letting myself be put down by the times when I did not succeed.
Twenty years ago, I was forced to retire from my job as executive set and prop designer for the Royal Opera House. I have fulfilled my dream and many others that I had along the way. I benefited from my successes and learned from my failures. I am able to acknowledge that I would not be where I am nor done what I did without the encouraging words of one person who persuaded me to keep going, and who was the first person to inspire me to sell my talents and pursue a career that used my gifts and my passion for what I love.
And it all began the day that Margaret Hirsch came to talk to me.
