Just a little over a week ago I was invited to be a speaker at last night's
Durban's Pecha Kucha, which happens every 3 months or so. For those of you who haven't heard of Pecha Kucha, it's an evening of speakers who each show 20 slides and have 20 seconds to talk on each slide. You can talk about anything from tracking whales to road signs, and because each speaker is over in 6 minutes, you don't really get bored! To discover more about this worldwide phenomenon you can hop over to their website
here.
Not being a big public speaker, I faltered on agreeing at first, but with a bit of partner persuasion (thanks Cam), I leapt out of my comfort zone and into a timed talk frenzy! And I'm happy to announce it went far better than I could have imagined, phew! It was a packed crowd at the
Factory Cafe, so thank you to everyone who came. For those who couldn't, here are my slides and a sentence under each. I know it's not the same, but at least you won't feel left out.....
Slide 1 - My wonderful company Hector & Bailey that I founded in 2009. My offering to the world of unique design services to the good people of the UK. Going alone was definitely another leap out of comfort zone!
Slide 2- Why the name Hector & Bailey? I basically stole the names of my two previous cats as their names are way cooler than mine. This is a pic of Hector who currently resides with my God daughter back in the UK. Unfortunately Bailey is chasing mice up in the great skies.
Slide 3- This is me at the age of 3. Growing up I became obsessed with items, people, buildings that took on some sort of transformation. I used to avidly page through my Mum's Woman's Own magazine for the 'before and after' pictures of ladies that had undergone a transformation...
Slide 4- This is a prime example of one such makeover. It may not look bang on trend, but I guarantee this was very progressive for the late 80's!
Slide 5- My very first job under Hector & Bailey was for none other than Eric Clapton. I never got to meet him, but his brief was to design an orangery extension so he had somewhere light but covered to enjoy his bowl of shreddies of a morning. Strange but true!
Slide 6- This was a wonderful interiors job I had the pleasure to design. I really try to capture the essence of my clients character in their homes; this family were colourful, friendly, homely people. I think this space does them justice.
Slide 7- This was another space where the clients spirit shines through. A wonderful, down to earth, artistic couple who appreciated great quality and function where needed. Take the sleek stainless steel kitchen for a prime example.
Slide 8- This marks the end of my work in the UK and a fresh start for me and Hector & Bailey with my wonderful South African man to sunny Durban, SA.
Slide 9- My first 'real' experience of Africa came through a visit to Warwick Junction, which is a culturally rich and diverse place slap bang in the middle of Durban. I met this lady, a cardboard collector whilst there and I felt an affinity to her as she had this friendly cat by her side. Like me, she's a magnet for cats and vice versa.
Slide 10- Anyone who knows South Africa, will not be surprised to hear that it took me 6 months to obtain my work visa! So to keep me sane, I started seeking out neglected, old furniture and transforming it into something beautiful. Just like the ladies in my Mum's magazines, everything can be taken from the shadows and brought into the light.
Slide 11- These are more examples of my 'Found & Fixed' pieces. I give each and every one a name as I do get quite emotionally attached to each.
Slide 12- This was my first job having secured my visa. Funnily enough it was in Maputo, a Mother & Baby centre called Thula Thula. Beautiful old house to work with, this is one of the mood boards for the boutique area.
Slide 13- The brief on this project was to design a store on an empty plot of land. One of the main stipulations was to keep the beautiful 100 year old fig tree which resided there. The outcome was to integrate it into the coffee shop verranda area. Can't wait to see this one finally finished!
Slide 14- Whilst living in Durban, I met the very talented Wendy-Lee Douglas of
Sketchbok/dbn. Together we created a colab called miss+meisie. A company which serves to promote UK & SA uo and coming designers. This was our first show at the Food Wine & Design Fair, up in Jo'berg last year.
Slide 15- My smallest ever project. A 3m x 6.5m boutique store situated within a hotel. We needed cost saving issues hence the white painted floor using road paint and plumbing pipes with scaffold planks for the shelving. It may be small, but it's very dramatic and I love it.
Slide 16- I took part in this years House & Garden show in Durban by making over a caravan with the theme of 'Modern Gypsy'. The whole thing was sponsored by Mr Price and was a great showcase for Durban designers.
Slide 17- A little known fact. I teach mixed martial arts to music, I have done for the past 4 years and currently teach 5 times a week!
Slide 18- This is the latest miss+meisie pop-up shop which took place also in the wonderful space that is the Factory Cafe. With artwork form the UK and many new SA designers showing their wares, the weekend proved a great success!
Slide 19- The latest product range from Hector & Bailey. Photographic printed cushions, the Hector sofa and perspex planters. These will all be available soon to purchase and enjoy yourself!
Slide 20- I thought I'd finish with why I have fallen for Durban. I have monkeys in my garden, yes, monkeys! The African orange sunsets, nothing beats it, and the best coffee in the world! I never drank coffee before I arrived, so the quality and care over coffee in Durbs speaks volumes!
Images by Hector & Bailey, Dane Forman and Pinterest.
