BACKGROUND
As a child I was greatly inspired by my late grandmother ("ouma"), Ellaphie Ward-Hillhorst, an internationally recognised botanical artist. I cherished my visits to her little attic studio in Cape Town, and walks through the veld with her while she looked for plant sample cuttings to take home to study and paint. In retrospect, this greatly impacted how I was drawn to highly detailed, defined, realistic art. My ouma also had a background as a naturalist artist mentored by her Dutch uncle, as well as being a graphic designer and typographer. My own path as an artist has been interesting - I studied alongside my triplet brother at art school, we were always pushing each other to be more creative - I tried my hand at freelance illustration as a graduate, amateur calligraphy and did research & development for a goldsmith using my printmaking background to experiment with embossing jewellery. I took an administration job to just get on my feet, and kept painting in my spare time. After 4 years of marriage I became a mother and kept painting as much as I could while raising my children. In 2015 I moved to Australia with my husband and children and started exploring the incredible Perth coastlines and beautiful native botanicals - what a treasure! It seems my inspiration has come full circle. I now produce art from my home studio and feel very blessed to be able to dedicate my working hours to my craft and passion.
PROCESS
As an art student, I chose Painting and Print-media as my major practical subjects. These diverse art-making methods have lead me to a varied art-making process. My paintings are realistic in treatment, I mostly use acrylic paint on canvas. My drawings and mixed media art are highly detailed and have been mostly monochromatic. To achieve such fine detail, I use Japanese Sakura micron pigment ink pens, with incredibly fine nibs down to 0.03mm. I have been adding watercolour washes to add background colour fields. My mixed media has been painting on board, layered with ink drawing on top. I collect reference photographs for all my work by going for bush-walks, beach-walks and using Go-Pro footage from coastal holidays. I have a large monitor in my studio and ample good lighting, so I can enlarge my photographs without hurting my eyes. Great reference material and good lighting ensure my studio setup is optimal for a excellent quality artwork. In 2021 I began holding Botanical Line Drawing Workshops for adults, and held an informal workshop for my oldest son's school co-hort. I hope to branch out more and more in education, to teach others my skills and inspire them to express their own creativity.
a bit about BUSHWALK BOUQUET series
In 2021 I began a series of mixed media works that were inspired by walks through my local bushland.
Walking helped me through a season of my life where I needed to reflect, process some past hurts and traumas, and practice mindfulness - learning to be present in my here & now helped me deal with anxiety - instead of walking and getting lost down the rabbit-hole of anxious thoughts, I learned to use my senses to appreciate my surroundings and this in turn really sparked creativity and joy.
The bushland offers up an arrangement of botanicals that I think are a reflection of our lives - messy yet beautiful.
These mixed media botanicals are treasures to me - the result of much healing and creative exploration.
I still enjoy this creative process and am expanding its materials and applications, so stay tuned for more!