I have a National Higher Diploma in Clothing Technology, hence my love of textiles.

I worked at several galleries during the 1990s and my favourite was La Chine des T’sing in the now long-gone Mutual Square in Rosebank and later in Hyde Park Corner. My love of all things Asian was kindled and incubated there and I have never stopped collecting or trading and take at least one trip a year to Asia.

In my spare time, I restore and remount old Japanese and Chinese scroll paintings, paint in the Japanese Rimpa style and in oil, as well as practise kintsugi – the centuries-old Japanese art of joining broken ceramics with veins of gold. I am quite active as a teacher in the craft of kintsugi which is great for individuals or as corporate teambuilding events. Kintsugi workshops are held at All Things Clay in Greenside, just a stone’s throw away from ONYX.

I am also a part-time interior decorator and though I have completed a few large projects, I adore working with individuals who just need a tweak to bring their space together. Other than most decorators, I love going shopping with my clients. After all, the final decision rests with them.

Rubin hails from the Eastern Cape and studied psychology. For the past thirty-odd years he has been a publisher and art collector. He has a keen eye and can spot a quality item hiding in plain sight, a useful skill when acquiring stock for the shop.