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Literature  ·  Poetry  ·  Essays

Vol. VI · September 2026

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Different Kinds of Art: Thursday Doors: The Owl House, Nieu Bethesda Part 2

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Helen Martins’ Glass House

Before creating the sculptures in her garden, Helen Martins decorated the entire inside of her house. Set out below are some interesting facts about her house called The Owl House.

  • Walls made of crushed glass: Helen ground up thousands of glass bottles and used glue to stick the fine powder all over her walls and ceilings. This made the rooms glitter and sparkle in the sunlight.
  • Pantry full of glass instead of food: Helen filled the shelves of her pantry with bottles of crushed glass. These were sorted by different colours.
  • Trapping the light: Throughout the house she placed mirrors at specific angles. At night, she would light dozens of candles and lanterns so that she could enjoy the effect of the light bouncing off the mirrors and glass walls.

Sadly, Helen’s extreme dedication to her art became her downfall. Decades of breathing in and handling fine, crushed glass severely damaged her eyes. Facing the terrifying prospect of going completely blind and losing the light and colour she had fought to bring into her life she committed suicide in 1976 at the age of 78.

Picture caption: Entrance hall featuring glass pieces in shades of green, blue, and brown inlaid into concrete.
Picture caption: The green master bedroom with the walls decorated in crushed glass in shades of green, yellow and blue. The curtains are brightly coloured as are the bedspreads and the ceiling is painted green and yellow.
Picture caption: Doorway leading out of the green bedroom. The crushed glass on the walls is clearly visible.
Picture caption: Cupboard in the sitting room filled with china cups, plates and jugs. The walls are decorated with crushed glass in stripes of black, brown, red, green and pink.
Picture caption: Fireplace decorated in red tiles with a row of owls at the back and a large cement fish at the front.
Picture caption: The red spare room with two single beds with dark red bedspreads. The walls are decorated in bands of red, grey, brown, pale grey, and yellow crushed glass. This room is particularly creepy in my opinion.
Picture caption: a red monster with brown spikey hair and yellow eyes created using crushed glass. It adorns a window in the Owl House.
Picture caption: Floor leading into the bathroom decorated with the bottoms of glass bottles in green, brown, and grey.
Picture caption: Two more demon faces with spikey hair. These are created using light green and yellow crushed glass.

About Robbie Cheadle

Picture caption: Robbie Cheadle author photograph

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Social Media Links

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/robbiecheadle.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
TSL Publications: https://tslbooks.uk/product-tag/robbie-cheadle/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robbie-Cheadle/author/B01N9J62GQ
Unsplash profile: https://unsplash.com/@r_cheadle

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5 respuestas a «Different Kinds of Art: Thursday Doors: The Owl House, Nieu Bethesda Part 2»

  1. Avatar de Michael Sammut
    Michael Sammut

    Wow! What incredible creations. A blast of colour and textures. Truly mesmerizing. But what a sad ending 😞.

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  2. Avatar de thomasstigwikman
    thomasstigwikman

    That is very beautiful. The photos are great. However, I feel sorry for Helen Martin. What a terrible fate. I wonder if wearing a mask and glasses, perhaps even a gasmask could have prevented that. A fellow soldier in the Swedish army wore a gasmask when we had to change out the latrine. I thought it was somewhat silly but it shows you can wear a gasmask while doing work.

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  3. Avatar de Rosie Amber
    Rosie Amber

    Wow! What creative insight this woman had. Thanks for sharing it Robbie.

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  4. Avatar de Darlene
    Darlene

    How clever and creative. Artists are such unique people.

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  5. Avatar de Mick Canning
    Mick Canning

    A dedication indeed.

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