Books

I have written, over the years, two books about the Owl House. My discovery of the Owl House goes back a very long time. As a Fine Art student at Michaelis Art school in Cape Town, I had, as my painting lecturer, Peggy Delport. She owned a holiday house in the small village of Nieu Bethesda, and had spoken about the work of Outsider artist, Helen Martins and her Owl House to us. On a road trip, heading to Lesotho, with a fellow art student, we decided to leave the national road and head out on a gravel road through the mountains and across high wind-swept vlakte, the pyramid shape of Kompassberg among the folds of blue mountains in the distance. We arrived in the lush valley of Nieu Bethesda as the sun was slipping behind the koppies. There was an avenue of giant pear trees, that must have been planted at least a hundred years ago, and there were sheep in the green fields, lending an almost biblical feel to the place.

Artist and philanthropist Cecil Michaelis (1913 - 1997) was the only son of the British Randlord Sir Max Michaelis. He served in France during World War II and was one of the last official British war artists. In 1988 he donated part of his Cape Town estate to the University of Cape Town, to establish the Montebello Design Centre

"On several occasions Cecil told me a story about his World War II experience as a soldier during street fighting in Paris.  While others were wielding their guns, Cecil took out his pencil and sketched the skirmishes. While conscious that he was lucky not to be court marshalled, he was proud to tell me that some of these sketchbooks are now on display in The War Museum in Paris – testimony he felt to the pencil being mightier than the sword." Tessa Graaff, Director, Montebello Design Centre