This natural attraction towards creativity, paints and paintbrushes has permeated my life from as far back as I can remember and to this day, my mum still has the little painting of a porcupine that won me first prize at an art competition at the age of three!
The moment I set foot in that Fine Art painting studio at the Technikon Natal (now known as the Durban University of Technology), I knew I had discovered what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I didn’t care whether I ended up as simply a pavement painter in Paris, I knew I wanted to become an artist. Thirty years later I am living that dream.
Style & Story
A winding journey through the commercial world of graphics, textiles and other design-related work fields once I’d graduated from art college in 1994 equipped me with certain skills and abilities, but my oil paints and paintbrushes were never far from reach. After a sold-out solo show in 2010, I felt empowered to work towards the goal of becoming a fulltime painter and in 2019, that dream became a reality, with a follow-up solo exhibition in 2021. I have exhibited in many group shows, including more recently, Brick Lane Gallery in London in June 2023, and my work features in private collections across Southern Africa, England, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
My style is best described as loose and expressive, but always grounded in reality, with strong observation skills and good sound drawing at its base. Whilst oil paints remain my favored medium, I also enjoy exploring charcoal and other mediums such as watercolour and graphite.
Having relocated from KwaZulu-Natal to Cape Town in September 2023, I am finding myself freshly inspired by an overwhelming plethora of stimulating and exciting visual scenery, but it is the clear, captivating Capetonian light that has me most smitten. From my light, bright airy studio in Woodstock, my goal is to capture in paint my emotional response to the world around me, finding beauty in unexpected places and to fulfill what I feel is my calling to be an architect of hope to the world around me through my brushstrokes and paint.
Career Highlights
The Mirror Within, Art In The Yard Gallery, Cape Town
Connect Through Colour, The Artist's Gallery, Cape Town
Rose'd, La Motte Ateljee Gallery, Franschhoek
