Memory sketch – W & N watercolours on Bockingford 300gsm
Such geraniums! It does not become us poor mortals to be vain—but, really, my geraniums!
- Mary Mitford, ‘Our Village’
Geraniums in a tall Everite pot that I used to have in my previous
garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa), from the days before Asbestos
was banned in South Africa in 2008. These pots were extremely popular in
South Africa and had a perfect surface for painting, either with PVA or
enamel paints. Painted with PVA, they would weather into a lovely
vintage look, getting more beautiful as time passed. I’m just wondering
what the company Everite produces now….?
Asbestos once accounted for three percent of the value of South
Africa’s minerals. South Africa was previously the fifth largest
supplier of chrysotile, produced 97% of the world’s crocidolite and 100%
of all amosite.