Fée Halsted

Painter

Fée was born in 1958 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In the early 70s she travelled south to study at Natal University, Pitermaritzburg for a BA Fine Arts degree. This was followed by a two-year postgraduate course in ceramics. She then lectured for a short time at the Durban Technikon but soon found herself married and living on the farm Ardmore in the Champagne Valley of the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, with her husband, James, in 1985.

Fée’s first student was Bonnie Ntshalintshali, the daughter of a farm employee. Bonnie’s natural aptitude for ceramic art soon attracted other members of Bonnie’s family who asked if they too could learn from Fèe. This led to the creation of Ardmore, the largest ceramic art studio in South Africa. Bonnie became known as one of South Africa’s leading ceramic artists, while Ardmore’s exciting diversity of ceramic art has been endorsed by Christie’s, London as ‘modern collectables’.

Fée’s merging of western ceramics technology with African art is only part of the story of Ardmore. Of even more significance has been her encouragement of their imagination based on nature, Zulu folklore and tradition. Fée has been described as ‘a creator of artists.’ As well as giving so much of her artistic ability to her creative team, Fée has won numerous art awards, including the Standard Bank young Artist’s Award which she jointly in 1990 with Bonnie Ntshalintshali. She was awarded the Women’s Campaign international for empowering women and was one of five people honoured at the Metropolitan club in New York in 2010.
The large group of sculptors and painters who produce ceramics under the Ardmore label amply demonstrate the diversity of talents that has emerged under Fée’s tuition. As she says:

‘The Zulu people have a wonderful sense of colour and rhythm and a gift for design and balance, all they needed was opportunity.’

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Dale Chihuly

Sculptor

“I guess there’s something to be said for being young and impulsive and more than a little bit crazy.” -Dale Chihuly

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly was introduced to glass while studying interior design at the University of Washington. After graduating in 1965, Chihuly enrolled in the first glass program in the country, at the University of Wisconsin. He continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he later established the glass program and taught for more than a decade.

In 1968, after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship, he went to work at the Venini glass factory in Venice. There he observed the team approach to blowing glass, which is critical to the way he works today. In 1971, Chihuly cofounded Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. With this international glass center, Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art.

His work is included in more than 200 hundred museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including eleven honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Most recently, Chihuly received an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Tracy Robertson

Photographer

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” – Ansel Adams

Photography, oddly enough is not the reason I am a photographer. I did not start taking pictures as a child, nor hold my first camera when I was 3. I am however, an artist, and as an artist I have chosen to use my camera to satisfy my curiosity for the world and all that I love about it.

Those who have worked with horses will know that each moment you spend in their presence only fuels your passion, respect and absolute appreciation for them. I am not only privileged to work with these wonderful beings every day, but blessed to live in South Africa, where the landscapes are as unique and diverse as my subjects, allowing me to create work that is constantly changing and reinventing itself.

“With her keen eye and artistic approach, Tracy Robertson has broadened our horizons when it comes to equestrian photography in South Africa. She certainly has a unique style and knows how to make a horse look his best!” – J. Theron, Editor HQ (SA’s Leading Equestrian Magazine)

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