Longing Artwork

Lyle Pettitt is a South African born artist who lives in Cape Town. Her love for fine art started at school where she took it as a subject. In 1995 she moved to Orlando, Florida where she furthered her art studies part time at The Crealde School of Arts. Here she took various courses in portrait drawing and painting whilst working as an apprentice in an art studio which specialized in fauve styles. During this period she learned to work with various mediums and gained significant painting experience. She moved back to South Africa and worked as full-time commission artist where she sold over 100 pieces of art but had never really settled on her style until 2000 where she delved into screen printing with pop art being her primary focus with her biggest influence being Andy Warhol. The subject of her work during this period focused on famous celebrities. Many of her works were exhibited at The Lisa King Gallery but unfortunately due to a family tragedy she stopped painting for 4 years. She has since found renewed inspiration and has evolved back into screen prints currently focusing on contemporary pop art primarily representing the female form. After losing herself through grief the realization set in that woman are the life form of every family. This forms the foundation of her subject matter which emphasizes the power of the female form. Her latest work is filled with vibrancy with a focus on bold contrasting colours.