As a child I often found Idalet with old history books that she found on the bookshelf at home. Her dad wrote his doctorate studies on the Ethnic Struggle for the Political Supremacy in South Africa, but he was also very interested in Egyptian History and Greek Mythology and wrote the book Mythological and Political Origins of Christianity. Through his dedicated research he was later acknowledged as an Emiritus Professor. However, Idalet did not read these history books - she was spending her time closely studying all the old photographs that they contained. It is this early exposure to Egyptian history that may have led to the distinctive abstract modern art style in which she later painted her canvas portraits.
