Malcolm (Salty) Solomon

Plettenberg Bay is home to one of the most talented sculptors in South Africa. Showme went to find out more about Malcolm and what made him settle down in Plett.

Malcolm Solomon a.k.a Salty was born in Plett and went to Arrowood Primary then onto Grey high in Port Elizabeth. After School he went to Cape Tech doing a course in fine arts, after 3 months he decided it wasn’t for him (With all the theory involved who can blame him).

He Joined the Army’s media department in 1987 doing all the design work on the banners for the parades.

“I really enjoyed the media department because it helped me overcome my fear of doing new things” says Malcolm.

He moved back to Plett in 1989 where he met his wife Raine and started a woodcarving business with Raines brother Gil.

In 1991 business was tough so Malcolm, Raine and Wayde (Raines son) moved to Hermanus hoping that being closer to Cape Town would bring in more work. They bought and sold houses in quick succession after remodelling kitchens, bathrooms, painting and re-doing gardens.

By 1992 Malcolm and Raine were yearning for a new adventure, so the family (including the cat and dog) left for America. They landed in New York, bought a van and travelled through the Appellations up to Vermont, New Hampshire and all the way down through the Smokey mountains and Florida.

After 3 months of travelling they settled in Colorado (just outside Boulder) with enough money to pay 2 weeks rent for a small cottage.

“The only way we could get an income was to collect abandoned off-cut building material (Mexican furniture was the big rave at that time) and we started doing commission work on doors and fireplaces. We took the furniture that we made, used our last tank of petrol and went into town to sell our pieces. Luckily enough we sold the furniture, filled the tank got more groceries and collected more building material”

By the time they had to move out of their cottage they had met another couple who had a place to rent on a small holding which was closer to Boulder. The 2 years that they stayed there times were tough and they were literally living from hand to mouth.

“Garage sales were great because the majority of their items had been looked after well and were sold at an extremely good price”

1996 was the year for the Solomon’s to move back to Africa. America had become boring and they missed the dynamic energy and excitement of Africa.

“South Africa has such a positive pioneer spirit” says Malcolm.

Malcolm went straight back into furniture when they moved back to Plett. “It was what I knew; I had been doing it for 10 years!”

Everything changed after Malcolm’s father Andrew Solomon passed away in 2001. “I never realised it then but all my customers were being referred to me by my father. That’s when the saying ‘you don’t realise a good thing until it’s gone’ became very relevant to me.”

“Raine and I were still doing furniture to get some extra income until the Indonesian furniture phase hit Plett, the furniture itself ended up being cheaper than the wood. This forced me to start doing sculptures, Clive a friend of mine, taught me how to start the sculptures off with wax. We had to sell our house so we could buy the shop (The Keyhole) and already in 3 years I have sold more than I have in the past 20 years.”

His first sculpture he ever did which kick started this truly remarkable career was of two dolphins jumping out of the water, a friend had told him he should consider doing that for a living, He then went to Australia to learn how to do bronze casting.

Malcolm’s sculptures are truly amazing; when I walked into their shop (The Keyhole) I was blown away by how he knew exactly how to capture movement in still form. His first works started with very life like birds; from there he started doing the dolphins then moved onto more creative works.

“I loved doing my sculptures but I wanted to take it to the next level. One day Raine and I were driving and there was a Knysna lourie flying next to us, the next minute there was a few feathers floating around. We turned around and saw that a Kestrel had caught the lourie. I realised that that was what I wanted to capture, the speed and power of the Kestrel.”

My main work influence is my love of nature -the Sea, water and sharp movements that are extremely difficult to catch in still form.

Another sculpture where Malcolm is catching movement is of a Comorant diving into the ocean. This has to be one of my personal favourites. There is so much detail and you can see the amount of work that goes into each of his pieces.

“I recently started doing aluminium casting, which has become very popular. My favourite medium to work with has to be nickel. I had made a life size sculpture of a mermaid in nickel casting and when the sun hit her she almost looked like she was swimming. It was absolutely beautiful.”

The Keyhole does not only specialize in sculptures, Raine has definetly added her touch with gorgeous shoes, jewelry, platters and clothes.

This Article was written by Christy Strever