Barbara Benjamin

I grew up in Cape Town. Our family had a fruit and vegetable shop. I went to a private convent school. I studied Graphic art and wanted to specialise in children's book illustration, but the course was not yet established.
Thereafter I created exhibitions for a National Library. One of them was on Children's book Illustration. I left to do a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, Cultural History of Western Europe and Religious and Biblical Studies.
Thereafter I worked on Exhibitions and Publications for the Western Cape Museum Service. Initially I created illustrations and maps in pen, ink and crayon, but later the demand was for computer generated displays. I had tried for a period to go free lance as an illustrator after my first four years of work, but free lance employment could not pay my bills, so I returned to the Museum Service.

I retired early because stressful computer work caused arthritis in my back. Since then I have been doing paintings in oils, acrylics and more recently in gouache. I also created illustrations in gouache, acrylics and watercolours. In them I returned to my former strength and love of lines.

An extramuraI activity, besides walking my dogs, is my work as a lay minister in my church. I love drawing inspiration from creation and the presence of God in creation.

My former influences were the children's books that my mother read to us. Most memorable is A.A.Milne's book, "Now we are Six", illustrated by E.H.Shepard; as well as Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat, among others. My research for the South African Museum's on Children's Book Illustrators featured all of the publications and artists mentioned thus far in this course and certainly influence the natural history illustrations that I subsequently did for the Albany Museum in Grahamstown.

I always felt that my childhood fruit and vegetable world, with few books and the concentration on performing arts over and above visual arts caused a lack in my education and confidence. That was a long time ago however. I have not been idle in making up for the lost years. It is now time for me, without excuses, to buckle down and doodle imaginatively, immersed in a flow of words and images. Certainly I shall produce a ripple for myself to enjoy in the making Then others also, will swim, as I once did, with the fishes, in Dr Seuss' "One fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"' well orchestrated publication, where too I was captivated by the words and images in hand.