Pierre van der Merwe has retired as an engineer, but as an artist and craftsman, he is teeming with ideas. He spoke to SMF News’ Anke Spies about his history with woodworking, his experience with leathercraft, and the importance of creation.
Pierre van der Merwe is an artist based in Somerset West. He specialises in jewellery and handbags made from wood and leather. Pierre grew up with woodwork, but taught himself how to do leathercraft eight years ago. PHOTO: Anke Spies
The home studio of a seasoned artisan smells like wood, earth, and warmth. Dust shimmers in the light streaming in from an open window, and it casts various instruments in a warm glow. Every surface is covered with something – rolls of leather are stacked against a wall, boxes of wooden handles are scattered on a worktable, rolls of tape and bottles of glue are found on every shelf. During an afternoon in Somerset West, the studio houses a dog named Bella, a cat named Willow, and the artist himself.
Pierre van der Merwe creates marvels from wood. Combining his expertise with leather and metal, his artwork ranges from handbags, to jewellery, to musical instruments. And what started as a project for his daughter eight years ago has since developed into a collaboration with a local atelier and a partnership with an internationally recognised luxury brand.
Today, while he has technically retired as an engineer, Van der Merwe is anything but idle.
“A lot of plans, yes,” he says. “But it keeps you busy. Otherwise you get old.”
Pierre van der Merwe’s home studio is filled to the brim with materials, tools and equipment that he uses to create various artistic pieces from wood and leather. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Getting his wings
Pierre has lived many lives.
He was born and raised in Bloemfontein, which is where he enlisted in the airborne unit of the military after high school. He joined the Delta Company as a paratrooper. To this day he remains close with his company, despite not wanting to become too involved for a long time.
I think it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life, but you learn a lot about yourself
“There are men that are in their sixties that only start speaking about things now,” he says. “Some end up in tears, but at least it’s things that come out.”
The men provide each other with a valuable support system, explains Van der Merwe, and mentions that their motto is “we don’t leave anyone behind”.
“I think it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life, but you learn a lot about yourself,” he says.
Pierre completed his service in 1979, and began studying mechanical engineering at Stellenbosch University the following year.
Citing his love for animals, Pierre says that “since standard six” he has wanted to become a veterinarian. “That was my big dream.”
However, his military salary of R30 a month, and the additional R45 for being a qualified paratrooper, was only enough to finance his first year of studies.
Fortunately, due to winning an Olympiad in matric, he was offered a bursury by Sasol “to study engineering wherever I wanted”.
“I was interested in science, I had good grades in maths,” he shrugs. “That’s the end of the story.”
As a mechanical engineer, Pierre van der Merwe worked on a range of projects, including the Southern African Large Telescope and the Touwsrivier Solar Project. He combines his knowledge of engineering with his craft to create visually interesting pieces. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Against the grain
It was during his early years as an engineer that Pierre started combining his experience with his love for wood.
“I’ve come a long way with woodwork. My father and grandfather were cabinetmakers,” he says. “So I grew up with woodwork.”
“I kind of wanted to step away from the engineering,” he says. “I missed the creativity, and I like making things with my hands.”
Pierre recounts making huge wooden front doors that required bearings, amongst other engineering applications. “It was actually going very well until I cut open my hand.”
An injury to the ligaments in his thumb meant that he could no longer work with his hands, so he returned to engineering. This is where he met his wife.
“We shared an office, and I was actually a rocket scientist,” quips Linda van der Merwe, who did her honours in mathematical statistics. “And then they think because I’m a woman, I must be the secretary.”
Pierre fondly describes Linda as getting “die moer in” when people called the office with this assumption.
Years later, a market he attended with his daughter would mark the beginning of his leather crafting journey.
“I saw a handbag that I really liked, and I asked if he wanted to buy it for me,” recalls Leandré van der Merwe. “And he said no, he can make it himself. That’s what, eight years ago now.”
The wood and leather bags made by Pierre van der Merwe are made to order, and he also takes independent orders for various wooden objects and gifts. In the photo, he is holding a wine carrier. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Pierre had no previous experience in leather crafting, but says that he had always loved the smell of leather, and jokes that you know you’ve made it in life when you own a leather jacket.
“Leandré has a big black box full of handbags, she gets all the prototypes,” he says with a grin.
The girls in her student accommodation, Harmonie Ladies Residence, also borrowed her bags, said Leandré. “It is something that I’ll keep forever, to give to my children and grandchildren, and they’ll always know that Oupa Pierre made it.”
After creating a few wood-and-leather handbags, Pierre attended evening classes at the jewellery department at SU where he continued to learn and experiment.
He was subsequently contacted by the University, and asked to teach woodworking classes to the jewellery students.
“We were dazzled by his mind, being able to fuse his knowledge of mechanical engineering with his artistic flair and creativity,” says Anya Robinson, who was a student of Pierre during her final year of jewellery design at SU. His passion is something I truly look up to. To this day, I still hear from him, [and] we still keep an eye on each other’s creative accounts.”
There is an assortment of wooden bits and pieces all over Pierre van der Merwe’s studio. He makes chains, buckles, and handles out of wood that is later attached to bags or used as decorative pieces. PHOTO: Anke Spies
‘A few hundred handbags later’
Pierre met Madri Scherman at the Design Indaba Conference in 2018, which took place at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town.
The owner of Masch Atelier had only an online store at the time, but Pierre started making handbags for her.
“And then one day out of the blue – I was still at work – she called me and said: ‘We should open a shop’.”
Pierre compares this to how far Masch has come, with a boutique on Church Street in Stellenbosch, and a bridal store open at Bosman’s Crossing, on the outskirts of Stellenbosch.
“It’s probably a few hundred handbags later that I’ve made there,” chuckles Pierre.
An ostrich leather and wood bag made by Pierre van der Merwe, with a gold-plated clasp. Pierre makes all his pieces by hand. PHOTO: Anke Spies
“I don’t have a machine, so I stitch everything by hand,” he says. “Where you join the leather and the wood, you have to drill every little hole. So it’s extremely time consuming.”
Currently, Pierre is doing a lot of work for Cape Cobra Leathercraft, which is “Africa’s largest exporter of luxury exotic leather goods”, according to their website.
Pierre makes wooden handles and other components for their bags, which he describes as “really, very, very smart handbags”.
As he talks about his work, Pierre is already motioning to his next projects, which are currently still in the form of slabs of wood and rolls of leather.
“A person always says ‘one day, one day’,” he muses. “So I have many special pieces of wood that I’ve been keeping with me for probably 20, 30 years, or pieces of leather, or bottles of wine for a special occasion.”
“Every day is special,” continues Pierre. “So we drink that special wine, and I work with those pieces of wood.”
A chair in the home studio of Pierre van der Merwe is the perfect resting place for various sheets of leather, all of which he still plans on using. PHOTO: Anke Spies