Holly creates photographs with a paintbrush

DANVILLE Park Girls’ High School past pupil, Holly Kavonic, takes photographs with her paintbrush.

This talented young woman’s oil paintings are being snapped up in art galleries in America.

Each painting is the result of hours of painstaking work to create images that make you look twice because, ‘surely that must be a photograph.’

“A single painting can take between six and 12 weeks to complete, depending on the size,” said Holly.

This kind of work is known as hyperrealism, although Holly explained that this is different from photo-realism, as the paintings are not exact replicas of the original photographs.

Holly comes from a creative family and drew and painted from a young age.

Her mother, Sya, is well known on the North Coast for having taught art to local children, before the family moved to Westville a few years ago.

“I first came across an inspiring example of realism when I was still in high school. My sister owned a book of the artwork of Robert Bateman. His wildlife paintings are absolutely beautiful, highly detailed and accurate representations of his subject matter. I began to incorporate realism into my paintings during high school. This was a completely natural style of painting for me.

“I was drawn to it like a magnet. Over time my work has become more and more detailed. Every year I seem to see more colour and detail in a blade of grass or in a person’s skin than I ever did before,” Holly said.

But it is not just the incredible realism of her work that is turning heads. Her paintings speak to the soul.

“There is a beauty, and nobility in the human spirit, that surpasses understanding and defies simple explanation.

“We are filled with such complex emotions, but no matter what a person has been through, we can relate on some level to them. There is so much to capture in a person’s soul, so much that speaks through our eyes, our expressions, our body language.”

Inspired by “God’s love for his people and his desire to have a relationship with us”, she hopes her work will build bridges between people of different cultures.

Holly began painting full time in 2009 when local art patron, Louis Bruwer, discovered her. Able to see her potential, he commissioned her to do a number of paintings over a year.

Most of her early paintings portrayed the richness of African cultures. America’s fascination with African culture has worked in her favour and she discovered a niche for her work in California, where she has since settled with her husband, Ben Hutchinson.

This year she is launching a series of wildlife paintings and hopes to bring more attention to some of the at-risk or endangered animals of North America and South Africa.

Currently, Holly’s work is only available in America, although she is planning an exhibition at the Artisan Gallery, on 334 Florida Road, Morningside, Durban on 20 September.

For more information, visit www.hollykavonic.com