“Like everyone else we still have to plug into the day-job
matrix, but it still whispers to our kooky inner inventor
and scintillates the secret swashbuckler in us.”
According to Claire, Anton is better at
sewing than her. He uses leather to craft all
kinds of objects like masks and headgear.
Some items are used during performances
but others are for sale at the Oude Libertas
Slow Market. “I first started to dabble
with leather work about three years ago,
and now I’m hooked,” he says. “I start
off with the same pattern but as I mould
them and work them, each mask develops
its own character and I develop a personal
relationship with each of them.”
Anton uses vegetable tanned leather, so
there are no chemicals used in the tanning
process. This makes the leather soft and
pliable when it is wet, but allows it to
harden well when dry. Ideally he would
prefer to prepare the skins himself to give
him more control over the process, but
that is not possible at the moment.
The couple settled in the Helderberg
about two years ago. “We moved from
Johannesburg (The Big Smoke) to
Gordon’s Bay (The Big Blow) in April 2011,”
Claire jokes, “and it took us well over a
year just to figure out how to walk upright
in this wind - with and without stilts.”
At first, not knowing other performers
down here, they performed on their
own but some time ago they joined The
Psychedelic Theatre, a group of actors,
dancers, puppet masters, poi artists,
magicians, jugglers and all together zany
performers from Stellenbosch.
Drumming brought them together back in
Gauteng, but it was Anton’s fire dancing
skills that melted Claire’s heart. “I used to
run a restaurant outside Jo’burg where
we held regular music evenings and at
some point I decided to start a drum circle.
I asked around and someone directed
me to Anton, a City Bank employee who
also happened to do fire
dancing. We liked each
other, we fell in love and
he taught me fire
dancing and now
we are partners in
art and marriage.”