Figure - Back view Drawing

I am a full-time artist and photographer. I have achieved significant artistic recognition, notably graduation with distinctions, finalist in the 2018 WSSA International Watercolour Society-SA] Competition, the 2014 Bouchard Finlayson National Award, selection and finalist in the prestigious SPI National Portrait Award 2013, Cape Town Triennial, residency in Paris, Atelier, in City International des Arts, and award winner in the New Signatures Award Competition, the South African Association of Visual Art. Portraits, figures and landscapes are my specialty. My favourite genre is contemporary classical realism. My work is contemporary and versatile, and ranges from formal realism through to expressionism and abstraction at times. Women and feminine figures form a central recurrent theme, at times inspired by African and European mythology, natural geometry and my favourite teacher, nature. My home and studio are centered around the living and breathing passion for art. I have lived in my creative world since I was a tiny tot. My award-winning photography and art have been represented in several collections, exhibitions and publications through the years. My favourite mediums of art are oils, charcoal, pastels and photography. I love working in the multifaceted field of art and working from life... this is a passion. I bring art to life with my distinctive artistic services; certainly not your run-of-the-mill artist. I bring out my client's commissions with flair and an individual touch. Since 2011 I have been a full-time artist and photographer. Although teaching and lecturing was most rewarding, there is no longer the time for it. I have run my own Art School with a driving passion for the field of art. I have lectured for 18 years in fashion design and other design courses at universities such as Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Stellenbosch University and other private universities. We reside in Saint Helena Bay, formerly in Stellenbosch and Cape Town and we have two beautiful adult daughters. As you can ascertain from this short synopsis of years of experience, I live for my art as does my husband, artist and former graphic design lecturer Pienaar van Niekerk. Life is a living and breathing work of art and I love every moment of capturing its beauty.