House of Canvex: Georgina Ridl Takes on The Fordoun Hotel & Spa

Georgina Ridl is a mother of three, artist, textile designer, and interior decorator at House of Canvex. Her most recent project is a range of custom fabrics for her designs at The Fordoun Hotel and Spa. This is an award-winning five-star luxury boutique hotel and spa located near Nottingham Road in the scenic KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

After qualifying from Durban Technikon in 1999, Georgina ventured overseas to pursue a career in Textile Design. She first moved to London and started working in Georgina von Etzdorf shop in Burlington arcade, a well-known British Designer who is subsequently famous for her luxurious velvet scarves and clothing accessories. Furthermore, she then moved on to Italy, working and living on Lake Como with some of the top fashion houses in Milan. After her fantastic exposure in the fashion world, she thus returned to London and started working for various design companies.

A call back to SA

After her first son was born in London she decided to move back to South Africa. Here she started to paint again and focused on oils and mixed media. Her paintings were sold through word of mouth and at an art gallery in Somerset West.

Georgina returned to Nottingham Road in 2014, her childhood town, with her husband and three children. She continued to paint in her spare time keeping her creativity alive. Georgina is an eternal student of her art. The process of painting is never-ending, with every new painting bringing its own set of challenges and joys!

A new venture in design

She has recently refurbished the restaurant, reception rooms, indoor pool area, and juice bar at Fordoun Hotel and Spa. Georgina took on this new challenge with the realisation that interior design is another passion of hers.

Having a textile design background, interior decorating seemed to come naturally to her. The newly decorated rooms were therefore a great success and she has had some excellent reviews on her work. Her latest venture is creating a range of fabrics inspired by nature. In particular, these include the birds and flowers of KZN. Her first print is called “The Secretary bird”. It is subsequently a modern yet subtle take on the majestic Secretary bird amongst the Leontis Leonurus plant that is indigenous to the KZN Midlands.