An elephant‚ parrot‚ a modern take on a grandma quilt and the spiritual mandala circle are the inspiration behind a new range of blankets in store now - drawing on the talent of four South African creative artists.With Jozi about to dip into the full force of Winter‚ stylistas with cash now have a wider choice in the local marketplace.A portion of the blanket sales will go to a Foundation that focuses on upliftment of the less privileged‚ through education and skills development.The multi-dimensional purpose of a mandala – a Sanskrit word which represents everything from the universe to circles of friends‚ family‚ and community – is what inspired the design Natalie Vice created for her blanket.“I thought that it [mandala] would look amazing on a blanket and decided to go with monochrome colours of black and white so that the design would have central focus‚” said Vice‚ the owner of a home décor store in Cape Town.Natalie Vice's mandala blanket designVice‚ who draws inspiration from nature‚ human anatomy‚ henna‚ tattoos and geometric motifs for her illustrations‚ said she submitted five different designs to the Mr Price Home Co.LAB Collection and the mandala was selected.“It’s been fun to work with such a big chain store and learn about their processes and see my design become a part of their product offering‚ especially as they are as proudly South African as I am.”Zizipho Poswa‚ founder of Imiso Ceramics‚ said there is demand around the world for South African art.Poswa has a textile design background and says she draws a lot from it. Her mother inspired her blanket design‚ she says.“The greatest part of it [the commercial collaboration] is to be able to share your designs with South Africa‚” Poswa said.David Bellamy‚ a hand-made textile designer‚ created his design around Cape Parrots.“I'm a member of the Cape Parrot Project‚ which works to restore the heavily over-logged yellow wood forests of the Eastern Cape‚ these trees being a food source for the highly endangered parrots.“I showed the parrots sitting in a Yellow Wood tree being affectionate‚ in a way that I think people can identify with. The slogan Fly Free Forever (incorporated in the design) refers to both the wild parrots‚ but also to the dreams a blanket purchaser might enjoy.” Rudi De Wet said his artwork was inspired by the concept of a traditional grandmother’s quilt‚ “which through the collaboration‚ I then deconstructed and simplified by using organic patterns and shapes to create an image”.The blankets are available in Mr Price Home stores and for purchase online at R599 each...