the crafter
Winter 2025
A tiny cottage at the mouth of the Keiskamma River becomes a cosy refuge for an artist family and their treasures
Words by Malibongwe Tyilo Photography by Greg Cox Art direction & Styling by Tracy Lynch a LOOKBOOK Studio production
Tracy and her family, husband Frank van Reenen and son Negan, decided not to do any remodelling on the property, except adding double glass sliding doors on the bottom floor, and a deck that allows them easy access to the ‘wilderness’ of their garden, which sits on the edge of the Hamburg Nature Reserve. Negan’s single bed is at the bottom of the staircase of the cosy cottage, and above it hangs another sculpture from Frank’s distinctive ‘Rain Taster’ series.
Frank’s work lives next to items the couple picked up from bric-a-brac shops. The dogs, he painted onto giant playing cards, are displayed alongside a tea set he picked up from a local store. A painting of Paris that reminds Tracy of the couple’s time in the French capital on art residences hangs above the table.
‘I have an obsession with lucky finds, and this house is almost like a treasure hunt; a tiny jewel box filled with the spoils of treasure hunts,’ says Tracy Lynch, describing her family’s holiday cottage in idyllic Hamburg, a seaside village on a strip known as the Sunshine Coast, about halfway between Port Alfred and East London, and a 45-minute drive from the nearest petrol station.
‘There’s something about the Eastern Cape … something that people who grew up here can never can get out of their system, I think it’s the light and the warmth of the ocean, the long beaches; when the green landscape meets the ocean, there’s just something extraordinary,’ adds the Gqeberha-raised interior designer and creative director, who has called Cape Town home for the past three decades.
In 2021, friend and artist Pippa Heatherington invited Tracy to Hamburg to introduce her to the work of the village’s renowned Keiskamma Art Project. The visit made such an impression on Tracy that, a few weeks later, she and her husband, artist Frank van Reenen, made an offer on her ‘tiny jewel box’, a mini-tower-cum-double-storey rondavel nestled in verdant flora just over the edge of the Hamburg Nature Reserve. ‘It’s got aloes, milkwoods and indigenous Eastern Cape vegetation. We’ve completely let it go; the cottage sits on the wilderness and what happens out there is just … it’s just life.’ When friends suggest she give it a trim, she says, ‘ “Don’t touch it!” I love it so much. It’s utterly charming.’
That light touch also informs how she and her family have approached the cottage, keeping much of it as they found it, including its ‘pink terracotta’ exterior. A double glass sliding door to let in more light, a little deck that sticks out into the wilderness, and a kitchen sink are the most significant structural changes.
‘And then of course we painted it green from top to bottom, to bring that green from the outside in,’ she adds. Together with her husband, son Negan, and their dogs, they visit a few times a year and layer their unfolding family story over what was already there. Two of Frank’s distinctive oversized sculptures sit comfortably on the floor; next to them a repainted table and chairs that came with the cottage. Atop the table, Frank’s paintings of their dogs on oversized playing cards live next to a white tea set with blue painted swallows that he bought from a local bric-a-brac shop.
Other lucky finds line the walls, each a reflection of their story. A collection of botanical illustrations from another local shop Tracy always visits when she pops into the village lines the wall along the staircase. An old 19th-century print of Paris hangs by the window, a reminder of ‘the time I spent with Frank in Paris on his artist residencies’, she explains.
Having trained as a fine artist herself, she’d already developed an interest in incorporating fabrics and thread into her paintings, but it was during those and other trips to the French capital that she truly fell in love with embroidery, tapestry and other craft disciplines. And it was arguably this love for tactile artistry that sealed the Hamburg deal.
The addition of the kitchen sink is one of the few changes the family made to the cottage, which they’ve left pretty much as they found it. Above it, a cupboard that is covered with paper Tracy picked up at Jonkmanshof in Montagu, while travelling from Cape Town to Hamburg
For over two decades since its founding by Dr Carol Hofmeyer, the Keiskamma Art Project has produced monumental works that have been exhibited locally and internationally to much acclaim. The unflinching pieces, created by the village’s community, incorporate embroidery and appliqué techniques to depict stories that cover a wide range of subjects, from the history of colonisation and its impact on the region’s Xhosa people, to the end of apartheid, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its devastating impact on the village, and more recently the Covid pandemic.
‘What I witnessed was extraordinary. People were coming together to create something magical; be it visiting artists or local artisans. The women and men sit together and embroider; they chat, children run around, cows and goats outside. And what they’re making is just absolutely astounding and beautiful; an extraordinary project that has stood the test of time, delivered exceptional work, and become a beacon of hope for this community. It has uplifted so many people and continues to do so. I’m so grateful for the way in which it has opened my eyes.’
Her home’s most striking feature is arguably the wallpaper that covers its bedroom; a result of Tracy’s collaboration with artisans from the Keiskamma Art Project. In 2023, she worked with the Embroiderers to produce the wallpaper to create a commercial, passive income opportunity that shines a light on the Keiskamma Art Project and suggests alternative opportunities for income streams. The embroidered landscape depicting the local plant and bird life was photographed and printed and is now available for sale from Cara Saven Wall Design with matching fabric elements available from AAFRICAA store in Cape Town.
But here, in Tracy’s bedroom, it speaks to something of her personal history, from her introduction to tactile art and her enduring love for it, to that Eastern Cape nostalgia, that ‘something that people who grew up here can never can get out of their system’. It’s also a reminder of the collaborative art practice that has come to define so much of Hamburg life.
Tracy and Frank estimate the cosy cottage to be no more than 50 square meters. Negan’s bed sits at the bottom of the stairs, just a few steps from the kitchen sink. ‘It’s probably the most humble home House and Leisure has ever featured,’ she jokes. It’s got no wi-fi and its location means that cellphone signal is erratic. In an era of hyper-availability, of everything everywhere all at once, it’s something of an antidote, a holiday in the most literal sense.
‘It’s a space that brings me, Frank and Negan an enormous amount of joy because of its simplicity. It’s so cut off it means that we can focus on the things we really love. I don’t want to sound mushy and pretentious, but when things are contained, when there’s very little excess, you get to focus on the things that you really love, that have meaning, and that’s what a family holiday should be about for me.’
The wallpaper and pillowcase design, a collaboration Tracy initiated with Hamburg’s Keiskamma Art Project, provides a commercial, passive income stream for the community’s artisans. Cushions, and the tablecloth repurposed here as a blind are available from AAFRICAA store and the dress from Nineteenseventy. Opposite Considering the compact size of the cottage, Tracy says ‘the tiny little shallow bath’ next to their bed feels ‘luxurious and so right’.
