The sustainable and super-cute glass lamp stores energy during the day and releases light when the sun goes down. Once charged, the light lasts up to six hours before the panels need to be replenished by the sun.

The lid clasp acts as a switch that controls the power supply, so not a ray of energy is wasted.

The Consol Solar Jar is perfect for outdoor lighting and camping and is sure to come in handy when Eskom begins its proposed load shedding.

They sell for R120 each and are available at Consol retail outlets in Woodmead (Joburg) and Stellenbosch.

More information: www.consol.co.za

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Even if you live in an urban shoe box, there are appealing, space-saving ways to invite nature into your home. Forget the love palm that used to live with your aunt and the orchid you bought last year, and take inspiration from our gallery of designer planters.

The good news is that local and international designers are producing super-smart planters which provide functional design solutions – all adding a breath of fresh air to interiors. Some of our favourites offer small-scale indoor farming options or double up as furniture items.

Share the clever designs you’ve seen in the comment box below.

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Emerging consists of a selection of collages made up of complex layers of recycled magazines, printed papers and paper shopping bags to create mosaic-like compositions on large pieces of plywood. The result is a unique conceptual structure that is visually tactile.

Galia has always gravitated towards collages. She says she is drawn to the repetitive cutting and pasting that her technique requires and uses the method as a form of meditation. The artist has exhibited numerous times in New York, been featured in many international design publications and has sold pieces to all corners of the globe.

In 2009, Galia was awarded best overall green piece at the World Art Expo in New York City. She was commended for her creative use of recycled papers and low-impact materials in a contemporary collage. As part of the beautification project for the City of Great Neck, New York, Galia was commissioned to design an original artwork for an outside train station project spanning 7.3m x 1.2m.

Galia was born in Israel and raised in Durban. As part of a family with a strong connection to art, textiles and fashion – one that dates back generations – a creative path was inevitable. After completing a fashion qualification with honours from Leggats in Johannesburg, Galia worked as a lingerie designer in South Africa and London before realising, in 2004, that her true passion lay in art.

The artist has a unique way of viewing art and pattern. “Pattern, whether in nature or in art, relies upon three characteristics: unit, repetition and a system of organisation,” she says. “I question how these regular patterns develop and what rules shape the patterns in the world around us. It seems as if order often arises spontaneously from disorder.”

Since her return to South Africa in January, Galia has been working from her home studio in Constantia, Cape Town. She plans to exhibit in both Cape Town and Johannesburg in the near future.

More information: www.galiagluckman.com

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