Maeve Dewar

Johannesburg School Of Art | Michaelis School Of Art | Ruth Prowse Art School Cape Town.

Maeve studied under Christian Prosser (graduate London School Of Art), who subsequently became her mentor and friend. Christian inspired her to paint from her gut and intuition, taught her how to love and value the magic and power of colour. One of those important moments was an exercise of 400 shades of green. He was the first person who made her aware that it was more important for her to "get inside", rather than feeding off what other people said or told her to do.

Maeve's most recent quest was the painting of Tata Madiba.

Two and a half months ago I was commissioned to paint Tata Madiba. My brief was it must be 1 x 1 meter, and "˜we want to feel his vibe'.

This was surely one of the biggest challenges I have had as an artist, because I did not train as a portrait painter.

It was surely also one of the most incredible journeys I have ever had, and it took over two and a half months to complete, and the medium I used was oil.

On completion I made the appointment for the final handing over, but twice the arrangement was cancelled and over the next three weeks we had to reschedule. Life is weird and wonderful, because f...