A farm-grown child of the golden plains of the eastern Free State, it took a lifetime’s journey for Desiré Crowther to become a full-time artist.

Her portraits, figures, nudes, landscapes and stills originate from her awareness that “colour is pure energy”. Her style is mostly mystical expressionism, a marriage of contemporary consciousness and ancient art traditions, with a humble twist on “quirky”.

Adhering to the artistic philosophy of “look three times, think twice and paint once”, Desiré says that when she looks at an object, “instead of seeing solid colour, my eyes pick up light and darkness, patches of cold and warm. At times, it feels like I’m observing pixels and pockets of energy. As always, I use light and shade to introduce my focal point, but also the mystery, the subjective subtext, expressing the personal emotion that each piece reveals. I’m a perfectionist – where I put my artist’s signature has meaning.”

She studied Fine Art in Bloemfontein, after which she raised her two children on a Karoo farm and started pottery with a kiln in a studio. She did various studies in watercolour, oil and pencil drawings of the wild owers on their farm. She currently lives and works full time as an artist from her studio in Gardens, Cape Town and often goes to her country home in Clarens, in the eastern Free State, where she also has a studio.

Her work can be seen at galleries throughout South Africa. She has participated in various exhibitions and has sold work both locally and internationally, across Europe and in Canada, Australia and India. She has an annual solo “ART-bloc exhibition” which is curated in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Indicative value: ZAR 29 000