"African Woman" Painting

Growing up in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and in Cape Town, I spent my childhood experiencing the majesty of South Africa’s vast and varying landscapes and abundant wildlife. These experiences brought about a need to express myself in the mediums of graphite, pencil and watercolour and inspired my first art piece at the age of 6. I started my career as a Lay-out Artist at a Cape Town-based newspaper, then moved to Johannesburg, where I worked in the art department of South Africa’s largest rail, port and pipeline company doing illustrations and designing for print. This is where I fell in love with different mediums. My style has evolved over time from Realism to Semi-Realism / Impressionism as well as Abstract combined with Semi-Realism, painting mainly in Oil. I am inspired by a variety of subjects but especially enjoy painting portraits, landscapes, flowers and wildlife. In Portraiture, I enjoy capturing the sitter’s inner soul by connecting the gaze of the eyes with the viewer. When painting flowers it is important to me to recreate the beauty, sensuality and essence of the subject by applying thin, transparent layers of oil paint to capture the delicate, translucency of the petals, as well as the effect light, plays on the colour of the flower. What intrigues me when painting landscapes, is the effect that a warm or cool sky colour has on the colour of shadows and I enjoy conveying that in my art. Georgia O’Keefe with her independent creative energy and the techniques of Richard Schmidt and the South African artist, Harold Voight has been the source of my inspiration. I have been mentored by the late Richard Rennie, Jancke Combrink, Johan van Graan and Ken Hunkin. I, Louise Andrew, a South African artist living in Johannesburg, create art to bring the beauty and colour of our surroundings into people’s space in an effort to heighten that space, their mood and increase their overall sense of happiness.