Colourful African wildlife art from new resident’s brush
Justine shows people how beautiful Africa and its wildlife is by doing doing colourful painting which she says are a great reflection of the diversity as well.
“There is nothing quite as majestic as Africa, from the scorching sun and sea that laps the earth, the vigorous resilience of nature to the creatures that roam it, and the unrelenting pursuit of adventurous cultures coming together in a kaleidoscope of lavish colour.” Proudly South African artist, Justine Stead, recently relocated to Hoedspruit from KwaZulu-Natal.
“I love exploring colour in relation to the wild. My art style is an abstract expression of bold, raw strokes of colour and light, where movement and music can be seen in each mark,” she describes her work. She says she is a farm girl at heart and was raised in KwaZulu-Natal in Baynesfield. “I took art at high school, although I never imagined it would ever turn into something,” she said. She studied international marketing management and followed with a postgraduate in advertising communications at the Red and Yellow School in Cape Town.
“I worked very briefly in the advertising industry and even started my own marketing agency where I did event fundraising and sponsorships for sports and music events. After all my efforts to be some sort of high-heeled, powerful advertising guru desperate to get a job at the likes of agency greats like Ogilvy and Mather and go to annual awards for best entries in every ad category under the sun, it was at home in KZN, where it all started, that I eventually found my happiness and married the farmer right next door,” Justine said.
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“We have had some adventures and it ultimately landed us in this beautiful town of Hoedspruit. We both share a passion for the bush and have always wanted to end up here. Being in the bush is incredible, it does seem to amplify your painting and make it so much more tangible,” added Justine. “I am a mixed media artist and finish every painting with layers of oil, but the depth is created using anything I feel like as long as it follows the principles of oil on top of water and fat over lean,” she said.
Justine is a believer in managing energy, not time.
“You can have all the time in the world and have no energy to do anything or you can have no time but feel energised and happy that a painting will come together in a few hours. I do things that give me energy and I am very intentional with positive relationships,” she said. “My favourite wildlife is elephants. I have done many shows where people ask how do you come up with the colours? My standard answer is, “What do you mean?” Elephants are turquoise.” If you think the same, we can be friends.” Justine’s work can be found at Hoedspruit Frames at the Kamogelo Tourism Centre.
