We Will Never Forget

Gennie de Lange, being dyslexic, has drawn on the artistic gift she was given. She grew up during WWII in her grandparents’ vast house and forested garden. Being taken to the ballet to see Peter and the Wolf when she was tiny reinforced her beliefs—which many children share—that toys and animals understand everything.

Tales of war from her father were real. He had led a New Zealand dive bomber squadron, from which only half returned. The camaraderie, dare devil escapades, laughter, determination, and sacrifice that everybody was prepared to make and endure were part of life. Her father always felt he was here on borrowed time.

For Gennie, life is a gamble. Being a ceramic artist, every time she puts her work in the kiln is a risk . The glazes that she paints with are all varying shades of powdery grey. After hours in the kiln at very high temperatures, her painted on tiles emerge transformed like stained glass. Her exhibitions sell out. The viewers relate to the subjects personally, being from the dramas of their own lives.

Now in her eighties , she has turned to using her own ceramic paintings as the background. The Observer, who is a worn velvet antique toy, views the devastation of war.