Walk through any of our hotels and you’re bound to spy pieces by Ardmore Ceramics. The Collection by Liz McGrath has long been a fan of these unique South African hand-painted and hand-sculpted ceramic artworks.
Our annual Ardmore exhibition will take place at The Cellars-Hohenort between 16 – 18 February 2018.
Ardmore founder Fee Halsted celebrates her 60th birthday in 2018, to mark the occasion, she and the Ardmore Artists are getting set to take you on a fantastical journey – Ardmore’s Voyage of Discovery.
Be it by Hot Air balloon, mokoro, bicycle, bakkie, bus or plane – or even on the back of a hippo or on the wings of a butterfly – it will be an intrepid adventure, exploring the world of Ardmore and its African roots.
Africa is one of the most romantic and desired continents for those who love to travel; they bring their maps and set off to experience the unknown and unexpected.
The landscape, rich in flora and fauna, is breathtaking and camp-fire tales are plentiful.
(Image right – Gabi Maqethuka working on a beautiful vase for the exhibition at The Cellars-Hohenort. Gabi completed the Ardmore Winter School in 2017 and is now a permanent member of the Ardmore team.)
Fee grew up listening to such stories, of how the Zimbabwe ruins were built by Phoenicians and Arab traders and it is from these stories that movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark were created. She imagined how explorers like David Livingstone crossed the wild and treacherous country to discover Victoria Falls and Jan Van Riebeeck sailed around the horn to land on the Cape shores.
Fee’s tapestry of life is rich and exotic and Southern Africa has heightened her imagination, but more importantly working alongside Zulu, Sotho and Zimbabwean artists, who have their own stories to tell, has filled her soul with an even greater richness and understanding of this land.
To accompany and celebrate the launch of the scarves, Ardmore created a range of stunning ceramics, inspired by fauna and flora of the Zambezi River basin, which you can see on display at The Cellars-Hohenort this February.
Fee Halsted and Mandla Ngwenya discussing the colour palette of this magical tea pot. Mandla has been working as a painter at Ardmore for over 5 years, Mandla says, “What I really love about Ardmore is that it’s a well-known name throughout the entire world with creative artists and it has a very high standard of artwork. It also allows the artists to create their own styles and I really admire that.”
