“I like to start a painting and wait for it to talk back to me” Richard Diebenkorn

An invitation to take art as a subject at school came as a surprise for me, but when I accepted, it quickly became the lens through which I saw, experienced, and expressed most things. I did not study art at a tertiary level however, and only 15 years later during a heavy pregnancy which kept me awake at night, I began to paint again. So, I suppose you can say that I am largely self-taught.

Every morning in my studio, I start my day by writing down 3-5 items for which I am thankful. Perhaps this mirrors the space I find myself in when I paint and draw. A space of delight and gratitude that I get to notice colours, contrasts, light, shape, colour and line. Everywhere I look is an exquisite resource, I can hardly filter the input.

Although my work is largely representational, it is more expressionistic and impressionistic, not realistic. What interests me is conveying the experience in the moment, the thing that catches my eye, and then sharing it with the viewer. I am trying to embrace the fact that everything about my existence up until now will be the filter through which, and with which I make art. It is so interesting that as I forget about myself, I reveal more of myself.

I paint a wide range of topics but if I were to choose a favourite subject, I would say that it is ‘every-day-life’. I love to cook and am often torn between cooking the items put out on the counter and painting them. Similarly, I am captivated by the bodies I see busy in day-to-day things, all around me: in the car park, on the street, on the beach, on the mountain and at the supermarket. Living in Cape Town offers a great variety of beautiful topics and when I feel impatient, I must remember that I have years of painting ahead, hopefully I will get to paint many of them.