Fresh Apples in Enamel Bowl Painting

I grew up on a small farm near Estcourt, in the KZN (Kwazulu Natal) province of South Africa with the majestic Drakensberg mountains as backdrop. As a child I spend most of my time in die veld walking with the dogs, picking wild flowers, drawing in the sand, sculpting with the blue clay found on the river bank or just sitting, staring at the sun’s last rays on the trunk and leaves of the old willow tree, rippling water and grasses and stones. The word “Art” was always magical for me. I find joy in drawing and painting and to be able to show my audience the beauty of small things I discover while I paint or draw like the different shades of colour in a glass, a flower or even a simple landscape or bowl of apples. My favourite saying comes from Edgar Degas: “ Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. That is what I want to achieve with my paintings whether contemporary or commercial. When a client can relate to it and appreciate the colours and shapes of ordinary objects, it gives me joy and hope it gives them a lifetime of enjoyment. I live and work as an artist and art teacher from my home studio in the historical town of Heidelberg, Gauteng, for the last 20 years. I am a self-taught artist and prefer oil paint but I’m still drawing as much as I can. I do watercolour painting once in a while, also pastels and colour pencils. My works were featured in the South African Home Owner magazine, as wel as in the “Beeld” newspaper. After my contemporary exhibition, “Love Songs”, at the Skukan Galery in Pretoria, I was invited to do an interview on the South African national radio station RSG. Other exhibitions: Artist’s Under the Sun - Johannesburg, Art in the Park – Pietermaritsburg, Alice Art Gallery – Roodepoort, Dimitrov’s – Dullstroom, The Gallery and “Die Blou Donki” – Clarens. During the time I exhibeted at A.U.S. in Johannesburg, I met and sold many paintings to art collectors from all over the world.