PHOTO Jan Ras WORDS Debbie Loots
Some look like stony hearts, others like fossilised dinosaur eggs, in the latest range of organic-shaped and bulbous vases by ceramicist Margaret Woermann.
One of the grande dames of South African craft – being the founder of Heartworks – Margaret actually prefers to be seen as an excessive gardener. She’s also collaborating with Peta Becker of Projekt on their Curious Room label, where the pair reimagines chairs and couches to express their appreciation of nature. The vases are made at her kitchen table and she partly blames their shape on the wild garden view through the open backdoor…
Where were you born?
I grew (yes, grew) near Vryheid, a struggling plant I was!
What did you want to be when you were a child?
A gardener.
What are you today?
I am still a gardener.
What is important to you?
Apart from my colleagues and staff, plants! The fish in my backyard pond allow me to dream that I am somewhere else and not in the city.
Tell us about your latest range of ceramic vases.
They were inspired by clay balls sold for ritual and medicinal purposes under a flyover in Durban. Also, my appreciation of plants is like a vital organ to my existence, hence the bulbous vases!
What’s next?
I might just acquire a very small kiln, to make lots and lots of small ceramic shards…