Portrait of Leila

Migo Manz of ManZArt in Franschhoek has a growing collection of my large scale portraits.Recently he commissioned another of Leila Fanner. Leila is one of my dearest friends and I have painted her twice before, so it was a great commission to get. The portrait, like the others in the collection, is done in oil on paper and measures 120cm x 180cm. Am looking forward to starting work on my submission for this years SPI Award!

'The Chocolate box series'

The Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville offered me a solo exhibition which opens the 23rd April 2013. The proposal I put forward was to do a series of portraits that convey the diversity of cultures that make up our incredible nation. All of them are to be painted on unprimed ply in oil and are all 40x50cm. There will be a handmade ply box of 10 handmade chocolates that goes with each painting, and the lids will each have an image of one of the paintings on them.Each chocolate is to be wrapped in goldleaf and have a sticker of each painting on them also.

Portrait of Leila, & 12 people I know

In 2010, I painted Leila, purely for the love of painting. People especially..the way the light touches and bounces on and off and every whichway about the skin. The birds were fitting for the astounding person I know Leila to be. The use of symbolism in portraiture is something I have always been drawn to, and have often incorporated it into my work.
I loved doing the painting which measured 2mx2m, and it inspired me to start a series of portraits of "12 People I know", people who have had a profound effect on my life in the past 5 years.

                                                                             Leila

                                                                       Mandy Deacon

                                                                 Barbara Wildenboer

                                                                         Francois Irvine

                                                                       Nick Aldridge