Masha du Toit

I stumbled across this website : the portfolio of Ray Materson who began embroidering in prison, serving a 15 year sentence. The link goes to a portfolio of his embroideries – each one about 9 x 8 cm. This is quoted from the biography on this site:

“Soon Ray would find redemption in a pair of yellow and blue striped socks. The tedious prison routine and the constant fear for his life led him to spiritual re-awakening, and inspired Ray to try his hand at embroidery. Using the thread unraveled from colored socks and a makeshift sewing hoop, Ray began with simple designs and sports logos on baseball caps. He sold his artwork to inmates for cigarettes and bags of coffee. Ray found that his art gave him a certain status in the prison’s social order, a new found respect among gang members, killers and the social outcasts.”