Tzaneen’s tinsel art man needs help
Peter Deacon, a Tzaneen resident is a man of many talents.
TZANEEN – Peter Deacon, a Tzaneen resident is a man of many talents.
His latest project is a tinsel art project depicting the Tzaneen coats of arms from 1929 to 2005.
Tinsel art is a form of art in which you use shiny pieces of paper to form images. As a child, Peter used to observe his older brother practising this form of art.
He has a bad photocopy of the 1929 coat of arms where the bottom section is unclear. He contacted the Bureau of Heraldry in Pretoria for assistance, but they have no record.
“I want the project to be historically correct. I can’t get the right colour and am not certain about the wagon logo. I would be grateful if the public could help,” says Peter.
At the age of 83, doctors have given Peter a clean bill of health. This is not surprising since he wakes up at 02:00 to meditate. He exercises five hours a day, thinks of his next or ongoing projects and goes to bed at 18:00. He qualified as an aerobics and fitness instructor at the age of 68 and now practises the gentle exercises of classical t’ai chi sword.
Most people will remember Peter as the helpful electrician of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, where he worked for 29 years.
Born in Leicestershire in the UK, Peter joined the navy and came to Simon’s Town for two years. While there, he lost his heart to Norma, a Capetonian. They married and initially settled in Cape Town, where Peter worked for the city council before moving to QweQwe in the former Rhodesia.
Peter then worked for an Anglo American diamond mine in Botswana, leaving Norma at home. She, fed up with being alone, applied on his behalf for a job at the Greater Tzaneen Municipality.
Peter now lives in an upstairs apartment, while his daughter and son-in-law live in the main house. He maintains the large garden, does all the handyman work and recently repainted all the roofs, gutters and pipes.
Twenty-five years ago, his wife told him she was in pain. He held her close to comfort her and seconds later, she died in his arms. He never wanted to remarry.
Once retired, Peter followed his passions. He wanted to write a book and self published, The Leopard Key, a book about the Tzaneen and Haenertsburg area.
His ongoing passion is tinsel art and he’s particularly known for his heraldry.
Peter is currently training a young lady who matriculated at Stanford Lake College last year in the art of tinsel art.
“I’d like to pass my knowledge in this field to someone young so that they can carry on where I leave off,” he says.
