Four years ago, a chance sighting of a painting in a small bric-a-brac shop near the harbour of the tiny fishing hamlet of Kleinmond in the Cape prompted me a year later to drive three hours inland from Durban to Harrismith to knock on the charming front door of the artist, Thelmi Bekker. Talented, friendly and modest, Thelmi showed me her work and studio, and the initial collection we chose of her work all sold well, as predicted.
Time restrictions prevented me from visiting her at home last year, so we arranged to meet half-way at Ladysmith (named after the Spanish wife of Harry) in the Wimpy. Bizarrely it seemed an obvious choice at the time. A stonking hot day, Thelmi, her husband and I sat and drank ice cold vanilla milkshakes whilst selecting original paintings from the collection they had brought with them. I am sure this is not how the Bond Street galleries do business, but it was a lot of fun. An aside was the unusual experience when one visited the public toilets in the adjoining mall. An enterprising individual had set up a stall at the entrance selling toilet paper by the six square strip. By ensuring there was none available in the toilets he was onto a certain winner. We like to think it is these small vignettes of life which make our gallery personal.
To view Thelmi’s work, visit https://fillingdon.com/gallery-category/paintings/thelmi-bekker/ and contact us if you are interested in her paintings.
