Known as South Africa’s leading watercolour artist, Bill Mcgill (82) will be displaying his artwork for the first time in the Roodepoort area.
The exhibition, set for 27 July at The Knife&Fork restaurant in Ruimsig, will be themed around South African landscapes and birds species. The paintings will be mainly watercolour but there are also some acrylic medium pieces in the collection.
Mcgill will be present at the exhibition and will speak on watercolours and what they mean. “It promises to be a very interesting evening. I will speak on the misconception of watercolours. People do not understand that working with watercolours is a lifetime’s work,” Mcgill said.
Mcgill grew up in Rustenburg and was a pupil of King Edward VII High School, where he was taught art by Tommy Mills, a product of the Royal School of Arts in London. “He inspired us so much that 10 out of the 13 in the class became artists after school,” he added.
Further studies in Spain saw Mcgill under the wing of artist, Peter Lely, grandson of Sir Peter Lely, the resident royal family’s portrait artist. Mcgill has spent his life capturing South African landscapes, historic buildings and animals in watercolour and has continued to inspire others by teaching artists for the past 53 years.
The Knife&Fork will be serving soup and sherry on the house for the exhibition, which starts from 5.30pm to 7pm.
Details: The Knife&Fork, 011 958 1106 or 060 966 0242.
Related stories: Alice Art Gallery welcomes the public for a memorable weekend