​An Artist's Journey

I feel incredibly honoured to have spent most of my life in Cape Town, and I'm privileged to be able to paint the glorious scenery of the Western Cape. I try to capture the beauty I see, and I feel blessed in the process of creating a work of art that, hopefully, someone else will enjoy.

The process itself inspires me more than the act of selling and marketing my work.​My interest in colour and art began at an early age. Later, through a keen interest in photography, I began to see form, light, shadow, and detail from a different perspective.

It was only when I became more absorbed in art that I realized what had drawn me to stamp collecting as a young boy: the colors and paintings on the stamps had always caught my eye.​I dabbled in sketching for a while, and as I got better at it, I began to take it more seriously. This was a significant departure from my professional life, as I had spent most of my working years in bookkeeping and accountancy.

​It wasn't until my late thirties that I bought some oil paints and brushes and very slowly began to teach myself about mixing colors. For a good while, I focused on sketching, which helped develop my sense of perspective and composition. I love putting it all together, and it was only in my early fifties that I was in a position to take up art more seriously.

I now have a studio at my home, and I worked on my art more and more until I was confident enough to market myself.​I've experimented with various mediums over the years, but I've always loved the texture and multi-layering possibilities that oil paint offers. I also enjoy working with oil pastel, charcoal, and dry brush.​Because I'm self-taught, I've had the luxury and freedom of not having to follow any particular rules or systems.

Over time, I've developed my own style, though I find myself needing to experiment and move away from a particular approach from time to time.​While I primarily enjoy painting the wonderful natural beauty of landscapes and seascapes, I also love subtle and poetic human subjects. Sometimes I'll delve into graphite, charcoal, or lead, and in the past, I've often used watercolors as an adjunct to those pieces. Recently, however, I've also been doing work in soft pastel and watercolor (aquarelle).