Crystal Ramlakan is a refreshingly unassuming person; as an artist she makes no pretence at possessing some coveted creative genius, fashioned from childhood and now matured into something that demands that the world sit up and pay attention. That does not mean, however, that she does not have a compelling story to tell.
Her real story is about the altogether accidental manner in which she happened upon a creative pursuit in the first place, though, for her, by far the more exciting part of her adventure lies at that juncture where people began to notice her work sufficiently to encourage her to put a price on her talent.
Recognition has added a sense of clarity and purpose to her journey and has caused her to become much clearer on where she wants to go. “It makes the journey much more worth the while,” she says.
She insists that she is still learning. Creativity is not, she says, a phenomenon that pays a single grand visit and leaves you completely fulfilled.
Crystal is still learning. She is currently a student of leather craft at the Burrowes School of Art. That apart, she serves at a local school as an assistant teacher, working with very young children. The two pursuits, she says, have worked well together, helping her to fashion her passion into what she is currently shaping into a career.
Up to this time she has mustered sufficient proficiency in working with leather to have established Zamfeer Creative World and to become engrossed in fashioning ‘things’ out of leather at her home in Queenstown.
Working with leather, she says, has become an unshakable passion and for this she credits her instructor, Mark Sooklall. For her artistic inclination she credits, in large measure, the youngsters whom she guides in their creative play. Her experiences have caused her to see leather as a vast creative playing field on which to express herself. She has learnt to carve out of leather, to mould, to twist pieces into shapes and to draw and paint on leather. It is from those pursuits the she derives her current preoccupation.
Her passion and her exposure to the Burrowes School of Art have together, helped fashion Zamfeer into a dynamic enterprise out of which comes an assortment of leather accoutrements… ear rings, bands, pouches, leather bags and plaques, among other body-adorning and ornamental things.
One might think of the local market for such items as crowded. Crystal demurs, espousing the view that considerations of taste and preference provide a much more favourable market for creative goods than people sometimes think. She insists that in the creative world “choice is about taste” and it is this perspective that she brings to her ambition of one day taking Zamfeer to the level of a high street store where her work can make a more profound impact.
For the time being she works from her home where her husband and her son provide their support without being excessively intrusive. There, she says, she immerses herself in periods of intensity; conceptualizing, drawing, painting and fashioning objects out of leather.
By far however, her greatest asset is her overwhelming confidence in her own work. It is this that drives her to throw herself more fully onto the market. “I believe that people will like my work,” she says, an expression of self-belief that is sometimes missing from even the most experienced creative souls.
It was just last year that this breakthrough came. “People began to see my work and like it and buy it and that helped my confidence,” she says.
She credits part of her leap forward to her involvement with Women in Business, a forum where she says, she has ‘gained exposure and met people.” That means a great deal to Crystal who comes across as a ‘loner,’ someone who works with her head and her hands… and her mind. She believes, however, that she may now be ready to become involved with more kindred spirits, possibly through creative groups.
Crystal says that, with time, she has become more clear-headed as to where she wants her work to go. In the process of preparing to participate in this year’s Women in Business event, she is currently applying herself to creating pieces which she believes will be responsive to public demand. Since she works alone her immediate-term market ambitions are limited but she has been sufficiently inspired to press on.
Crystal can be reached at Zamfeer Creative World: Phone: 628-0759
