Ilene Painting by Nicci Swartz

Painting: Acrylic, Spray Paint on Canvas.

I’m a huge fan of South African music, Ard Matthews in particular so naturally when he came to town I made sure Tom and I were in attendance. We squeezed ourselves into the Music Kitchen on a warm sunday afternoon hustling to find a table as close as possible. Not only am I a portrait artist but while working in the Anti-Poaching Unit it was my job to identify and have all the intel on every poacher known to us, so it’s an occupational habit to immediately survey a room for any threats as I enter. In a room packed with literally hundreds of people she was impossible to miss, she just radiated beauty, natural beauty. After enjoying the music along with many tequilas, I learned that she was Ard’s girlfriend. Tom and I sat with them sharing tequila-slurred ridiculous ideas. To my amazement not only was she an unmistakably beautiful woman but she handled our crazy conversation with grace. We shared pictures of our children and she looked at my paintings on my FB page with genuine interest, she is what you would call genuinely beautiful. Only later did I find out (which made sense with no tequila) that she is a model and actress and business woman, sometimes a beautiful woman deserves to be painted