Former Lowvelder scoops coveted award
"Not only was it a massive honour, but I now also have the opportunity to take part in the BP Portrait Awards held annually in London."
WHITE RIVER – Since Craig Cameron-Mackintosh was a little boy at Uplands, he had a love of art.
His talent was noticed by his teachers in primary and high school and he was encouraged to concentrate on it.
Born and bred in the Lowveld, Cameron-Mackintosh, kept the flag flying for Mpumalanga when he recently won a coveted award at the Sanlam Portrait Awards for 2019.
WATCH: Pope Francis visits Mozambique
“I love the study of the human figure. The mystery of a silhouette and the playing of light on the human form has always fascinated me,” he told Lowvelder from his studio in Cape Town.
His career in art got a boost while living with his parents, surrounded by neighbours such as well-known Lowveld artists like Keith Alexander, the Boschs and the Eloffs.
In high school at Uplands he concentrated on developing his artistic talent. After school in 2005, he couldn’t decide what to study – fine arts or filmmaking. “I decided to take a gap year and worked on private yachts in the Mediterranean.”
It was during this time that his passion for art got a serious knock, so badly that he gave up painting for several years.
“As part of applying for a job on some yachts, we had to do a number of tests. It was then that we discovered that I was actually colour blind!” Cameron-Mackintosh said.
“I was so shocked and demotivated that I didn’t touch a brush for almost seven years.”
In 2012 his passion for art, however, reignited and he decided to start painting again. “This was such a morale and confidence booster for me that within two years I became a full-time artist.”
This year he entered a competition sponsored by Sanlam and the Rust-en-Vrede winery. A total of 686 entries were received.
From all the contestants, his portrait, called “Lesala in Silhouette” – which was done in oil on Italian cotton – resulted in him achieving honours.
“Not only was it a massive honour, but I now also have the opportunity to take part in the BP Portrait Awards held annually in London.”
The BP Portrait Awards is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world and represents the very best in contemporary painting.
Cameron-Mackintosh is currently working as the archivist of the well-known Billy Monk photo gallery in Cape Town. Monk’s claim to fame started in the ’60s when he worked as a bouncer at the Catacombs Club on the Cape Town dockside.
He always had his camera with him, said Cameron-Mackintosh. Monk thus had access to what was then known as “underground”, as the revellers from all creeds and colours partied together.
