I was a bit bemused to land in Johannesburg at the beginning of February this year and find the summer edition of the Southern Africa Ceramics magazine had hit the shelves and Fillingdon Fine Art was featured. Then I remembered that last summer Lynette Morris-Hale’s son-in-law came to the exhibition and took a series of photographs, primarily of Lynette’s ceramics, but also of the show in general. Lynette then wrote an article for the magazine which one can access on http://www.ceramicssa.org/Mag.html
On my visit to SA, I went to, in her words, to “the dodgy part of JHB” to meet Lisa, part of the iconic potting Liebermann dynasty. I got an effusive welcome, first from her dogs, and then from Lisa herself who was adamant we had met because I looked familiar. I get this a lot and my stock answer is I must have a very common face, which does not worry me, but seems to shock the perpetrator. When I asked her to tell me the story of her family and pottery, she opened this copy of Ceramics and said I could read all about it, pointing to an article on the Liebermanns. She then in turn asked me what was my story and I turned a few pages of the same magazine and invited her to read all about our gallery too. “Oh” she squeaked, “that’s where I have seen you before!”
If Lisa’s face had not been familiar to me before, her work was. Years ago I purchased two tiny bowls in a gallery in Plettenberg Bay painted with languid naked ladies. I never knew who did them and they have sat on a chest of drawers in my bedroom and brought me great pleasure ever since. And of course now this mystery of many years standing has been solved, and having met the effervescent Lisa, she fits perfectly as the creator of my lively ladies!
