Marie Hélène colours where the dunes meet the sea
Flowers on the beach at Swakopmund A pencil drawing looking north along the beach: the Atlantic rolling in on the left, the Namib dunes on the right, gulls over the water, and Swakopmund in the distance, with its lighthouse, and its long jetty reaching out to sea. Watercolour flowers sprout across the sand. A woman in a sun hat sits at an easel and paints them: their images lift from the flowers one by one and settle on her canvas, where they gather into a painted bouquet. She stands, her stool fades, and on the easel the canvas takes the shape of a tote bag. She lifts it off the easel onto her shoulder, and the easel fades.

Glimpses of colour,
close at hand,
to brighten your every day.

The idea

Each bag is a painting first. Sunbirds, bougainvillea, flamingos and desert blooms, painted in Marie Hélène's Swakopmund studio, one piece at a time.

see the work ↓
The work

Recent work

Every piece is one of a kind, signed and numbered like a canvas. The bags are shown and sold through the galleries listed below.

To the market
Everyday carrier bags, painted on sturdy cotton.
To the sea
Roomy beach bags, the paint sealed for sun and salt.
To keep
Decorative pieces made to hang on a wall.
photo of the bag
[Sunbird, morning]
No. 07 · to keep
photo of the bag
[Bougainvillea wall]
No. 08 · to the market
photo of the bag
[Flamingos at the lagoon]
No. 09 · to the sea
photo of the bag
[Desert rose]
No. 10 · to the market
photo of the bag
[Weaver at the nest]
No. 11 · to keep
photo of the bag
[Lilac-breasted roller]
No. 12 · to the sea
photo: Marie Hélène at her table, brushes and paint pots
From the studio

“[In her own words: why flowers and birds, and what she loves about painting on something people carry.]”

[A short biography: Marie Hélène Schoonees (née Albrecht), how long she has painted, her training or teachers, her life in Swakopmund, and how the bags began.]

Marie Hélène
Where to see it

In the galleries

The bags hang in these galleries and boutiques. Please visit, or ask the gallery about a piece you have seen here.

[Gallery name]
[street], Swakopmund
[Boutique name]
[street], Swakopmund
[Gallery name]
[town]