October 29, 2002

1:10 AM

The Owl House.The Owl House and the Camel Yard were home to the reclusive South African artist Helen Martins. A place of archetypal, almost mythic outsider art, Miss Helen transformed her home with the help of her collaborator Koos Malgas.
' That simple decision, to embellish her environment, was to grow into an obsessive urge to express her deepest feelings, her dreams and her desires. ' Here are some pictures.
posted by plep (5 comments total)

This is my world: the life of Helen Martins. Her unconventional life, the tragic nature of her
death, and the fact that the Owl House was a genuinely interracial project at a time when such things would have been rare in rural South
Africa add to the mystique of the place... more here.
posted by plep at 1:11 AM on October 29, 2002

I love this stuff. If I had a back yard I'd probably be doing it myself. Here's a similar thread vacapinta posted in September.
posted by gametone at 4:14 AM on October 29, 2002

< she resolved, there and then, that she would strive to bring light and colour into her life.>>

A rule to live by. Wonderful, I love outsider art - thanks, plep.
posted by madamjujujive at 8:51 AM on October 29, 2002

Wow. Just... wow. Thanks.
posted by languagehat at 12:46 PM on October 29, 2002

Fascinating & lovely: thank you.
posted by misteraitch at 12:08 AM on October 30, 2002