Botha’s Hill artist shares her passion
Highway's highly talented painter, Mary Swindell, has branched out from landscapes to portraits, still life and wildlife.
ART is more than pretty pictures that adorn walls, it is feast for the soul, a welcome escape and an unlimited outlet for bursts of creativity.
One such artist is Botha’s Hill’s modest, but highly talented, Mary Swindell.
Originally form England, Mary made South Africa her home back in 1965. Her British accent still clings on, despite the years she has spent in the country.
“I always wanted to paint,” she said. “It was my mother who was really good at it so I bought her a few oil paints. Then I took hold of her paints and started to experiment.”
Work, of course, interfered, and there were extended periods of time where she was unable to put brush to canvas.
“I did bits and pieces in-between as a part time job, but I didn’t really get into it again until I semi retired, that was about 15 years ago,” she reminisced.
With minimum wall space, she used her oil painting skills to create stunning landscapes on small canvases. With her passion reignited, and some spare time on her hands, she branched out into portraits and watercolour.
Each wall in her home is adorned with her own artwork, lovely landscapes, detailed wildlife and still life works that she copied from photos in magazines. In time, she found herself increasingly drawn to animals and portraits and has done a few commissioned pieces.
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“When I paint a portrait, it is good to know the person I am painting as once you know their character it become a lot easier to paint. You are able to put in so much more detail that a photograph cannot provide. You see them for who they truly are,” she said.
When she is not in her studio at home, she continues to share her physiotherapy skill among the patients at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust’s Respite Unit.
As an added extra, she creates beautiful A4 pieces of artwork that are either pencil sketches or watercolour. These are then printed onto gift cards that she sells at markets in the Highway area.
To purchase her artwork, contact Mary on 076 562 1015.
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