Which South African living artists do you most admire and why?
There are a number, Tracy Payne for her delicate rendering and powerful content. Willem Boshoff 's selfless journey into the psyche and William Kentridge's prolific output to mention but a few,but my all time favourite is Strijdom van der Merwe.I relate to his interaction with nature and process of making land art . He also documents the process and results in an interesting and unassuming way. He pays homage to nature and its elements with integrity. I love the fact that the work itself gets taken away,broken down, absorbed back into its source. Coincidently ,we spent our childhood in the same small rural area in the then Southern Transvaal
Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Walter Battiss. He was and still is provocative, humorous and a technical genius
Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
William Turner at the National Gallery in London (wow, I seem to be stuck on the Williams!)
His superb painting skills, passionate capturing of his subject and natural elements made me cry. His work was almost abstract at times and modern seen from a contemporary view.
Where do you get your inspiration for your work?
Just being alive inspires me to do many things and one of them is art making. Travel too, puts me in a different place, mindset, seeing and feeling , expressing. I like to keep things simple, so often its the here and now, materials , subject, be it a sitter , landscape, object, subject. No matter, always a journey.
Do you have any rituals or habits involving your art-making that you can tell us about?
I work from the outside in, inside out, believe in going with the process. The materials at hand will infuence the mark making, taking risks, deconstructing. Trust ,and hope for the best
What do you like most about being an artist?
Being an artist , difficult as it may be at times,is a gift and a privilege. it allows me to be in this world,but coming from a different place.
How do you handle bad days when you experience artist's block?
I visit my garden or go for a walk with my dog
What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
The fact that it has kept me going! I don't really think 'great achievement' but have managed a big challenge. I successfully produced a fine pencil portrait of an elderly woman (who had died) from two non-descript photos. One,of her at a young age smiling,the other, a small passport type pic as a stern older woman. I was asked to portray her SMILING in her old age and apparently realised an EXACT likeness by asking her daughter to DESCRIBE her. Phew! and I'm no portrait painter.
Do you feel that you want to make a difference to the world or in people's lives? If yes, how?
Yes, I do feel artists have a responsibility to communicate something. political,social,cultural, spiritual... I believe in the innate goodness of mankind, and as an artist would like to contribute to this concept in my work through compassion, understanding and beauty. Sentimentality does not appeal to me, and sometimes I get tempted to paint beautiful terrfing images like Francis Bacon, depicting the world in ways that it scares me, particularly the destruction of the environment.
What are your plans for the coming year?
To paint more!