Achieving global fame with a chicken feather

Esther Mahlangu poses in front of her artwork inspired by Nelson Mandela at the Melrose Gallery in Johannesburg. The 81-year-old lives a simple life in her hut. [Photo/Agencies]

She goes about her daily chores, sweeping the courtyard in front of her hut and worrying about crying babies.

Unlike many locals, she still dresses in the distinctive Ndebele traditional attire, with heavy beaded necklaces and dozens of copper rings around her neck and legs.

"Working with famous people has not changed me," she says. "I am not intimidated by anything and not even once have I changed who I am to fit in with their culture."

The only change she has incorporated into her work is replacing natural pigments of cow dung and soil with acrylic paint.

Mahlangu's first big international break came in 1989, when she was 54.

Her ornately decorated house had caught the eye of French researchers who invited her to the Centre Pompidou.