ABOUT ME

I was born in the small town of Waterval-Boven in the Eastern Transvaal, but grew up in Heidelberg at the foothills of the Suikerbosrand mountain range. As a child I spend most of the day outside with my brothers and friends and grew to love the outdoors and nature.

It was in my early childhood years that my parents and teachers realised that I have a God-given talent for drawing and painting.

When I was in standard four my art teacher encouraged me to enter a painting competition. My mom bought me only four tubes of oil paint namely: red, yellow, black and white. I had no idea that those colours form the Zorn palette! I painted a fiery mountain scene and won the competition! And so my journey as an oil painter started.

My mom bought me more paint, brushes and a palette knife that I still use today. My dad made panels for me to paint on as well as my first easel. I spend many hours in my room learning to paint, mostly from tutorial books. It was only in later years that I joined painting classes and attended workshops. I learn more and more each day, and am sure my learning will never stop.

I draw my inspiration from the beauty of God’s creation and I prefer emotional, aesthetic and descriptive concepts. My art needs to speak to the viewers’ heart and open their mind’s eye to the greatness of our Creator. I am intrigued by the play of light whether in a landscape or on a figure’s face and especially how that light affects colour.

The landscapes I paint are mostly Karoo scenes, but also other scenes from my beloved country South Africa. Most often you would find figures and animals in my landscapes. I have a deep love for animals and therefor they are also some of my favourite subjects to paint.

In my opinion, the backbone of any art is drawing. Better drawings equal better paintings! Therefor I spend a lot of time on drawing, getting the forms right, working on compositions and working out the right value structures. Colour is the icing on the cake!