Fee Halsted is the creative genius behind Ardmore Ceramics, which she set up in the late 1980s at Ardmore farm in the Champagne Valley of the Drakensberg Mountains, in rural KwaZulu Natal. A fine artist Halsted brings together Western ceramics techniques with African art, working with talented young artists to create mesmerising ceramic pieces, rich in colour and whimsy, and delicately hand-painted, their witty designs inspired by the natural environment, plants and animals, of the farm’s surroundings, and local folkloric traditions.

You’ll find repeated motifs - imaginatively recreated - a riot of gloriously playful monkeys, singing birds and colourful jungle plants. Over many years the pieces produced at Ardmore, have become covetable items worthy of collection, or "modern day collectables” according to Christie’s of London.

Ardmore Design is a luxury African brand devised by Fee Halsted and global entrepreneur Fleur Heyns. It is a translation of the intricate art of hand-painting found on Ardmore ceramics into design and decor items that include tablecloths, wall-hangings, cushions covers, place mats, handbags and even stationery. Vibrant colour and intricacy are a hallmark of these highly patterned designs. The store, the first of its kind for the Ardmore range, which until now has been sold in galleries and in luxury goods shops, also stocks a range of ceramic pieces.