Coleen Williams

Coleen Williams is an artist based in White River, Mpumalanga. Her home is conveniently close to the Kruger National Park, allowing many forays in search of inspiration and photographs for her growing body of mostly wildlife works. She is inspired by nature and enjoys capturing
the different colours, shapes and textures of our natural world in a variety of mediums.

Born in Nelspruit in 1972, her younger years were spent in many different places, and only in 2005 did she return to her place of birth, the beautiful Lowveld. Coleen always had a passion for art and as a child spent many hours creating. She excelled in art at school, but a graphic design career took her  on a different creative journey.  After running her own graphic design business in Gauteng for almost 20 years, returning to her roots rekindled the spark of her creative spirit and in 2018, inspired by an old drawing, Coleen’s inner artist finally convinced her to pick up her pencils again.

She currently finds herself on an exciting journey of rediscovering her love for art. The years spent in digital design honed her skills with regards to colour relationships as well as composition, which enable her to digitally compose her ideas prior to painting. Her beautiful paintings are characterised by an intense passion for colour and detail.  Whether its watercolour, pastel or graphite, Coleen’s artworks are a joy and the tender touch applied is evident in each piece.

Honourable Mention – 1st International Watermedia Festival, Art Curator Gallery, Somerset
West, South Africa, 2019

Best in Show – Summer 2019 Portfolio Show, Artcall Online Exhibition, 2019

Second Place – Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, November ‘Animals’ Online Exhibition, 2019

Honourable Mention – LightSpaceTime ‘Nature’ Art Exhibition, 2019

Special Mention – LightSpaceTime ‘Nature’ Art Exhibition, 2019

Finalist – Fusion Art ‘Into the Wild’ 2nd Annual Exhibition, 2019

Second Place – IWSSA Lockdown Watercolour Online Competition, 2020

Finalist – Fusion Art ‘Leaves and Petals’ 6th Annual Exhibition, 2020

Merit– Art Room Gallery ‘Portrait’ Art Exhibition, 2021

Second Place – WASA ‘Out of Africa’ Online Competition, 2021

Honorable Mention – WASA ‘Out of Africa’ Online Competition, 2021

Say Africa Art Exhibition –  White River Gallery, South Africa, 2019

Degrees of Realism Art Exhibition –  Weylandts Nelspruit, South Africa, 2020

K.E.E.P. (Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project) Exhibition – Online, 2020

Beauty or Beast Exhibition –  Warren Cary Wildlife Gallery, Hoedspruit, South Africa, 2023

Gerda Claassen

Bio to follow

Jeremy Maritz

Jeremy Christian Maritz was born in 1972 in Johannesburg. He was part of the corporate world until 2003 when he moved down to the Lowveld to help run the family business.

Jeremy loved art at school, but having been informed by his art teacher that he was not particularly talented, he never pursued the subject further in high school. Having had no formal training Jeremy sees his work as a constant learning process, drawing his inspiration from talking to other artists and by trial and error. “I see art as a journey of discovery. I am constantly trying to grow and evolve as an artist.” It is easy to see how Jeremy has grown when you compare his first watercolour to the intense pieces he now produces. “The contrast and diversity of our landscape and our rich cultural heritage makes South Africa a treasure trove for any artist,” he says. “Whether you are a painter, sculptor or photographer there is such an abundance of subject matter in our countryside and its people.” His love of our majestic landscapes, and in particular the Lowveld, is evident in Jeremy’s work. He has the ability to truly evoke a mood through his use of colour and brushstroke. Whether it is a sombre, ochre sunrise or a clear sun-drenched day, Jeremy creates a depth of feeling in his art that is a real and enviable talent, although Jeremy only took up art formally after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2010 and it aided his therapy.

Jeremy credits his father Eric for his love and appreciation of art. “My father has been my biggest fan and my strongest critic”. His father has always had an appreciation for art and design which translated into his business. Jeremy is also great admirer of the Impressionists and Realists and is inspired by the works of masters such as Monet, Vincent van Gogh as well as local artists Errol Boyley, Chris Tugwell.

Jeremy paints almost exclusively in oil. His source of inspiration are landscapes, seascapes and architecture.

Jeremy lives with his wife Gillian, a medical doctor at Shongwe Hospital specialising in HIV management. They have two daughters, Jaime age 12 and Natalie age 7. When he is not painting Jeremy is a devoted father to the two busy girls and helps run the family guest houses. When not running the family business or painting, Jeremy is a keen fisherman, competitive swimmer and sport shooter.

Lindy Roux

Lindy Roux was born in Pretoria, but has lived in many different parts of South Africa. She grew up wanting to pursue a career in art, and excelled at art at school level, but she drifted into the corporate world, and laid down her pencil for many years. She returned to Hazyview, Mpumalanga and surrounded by the natural beauty, rekindled her love for drawing and painting.

An enthusiastic birder she has always had an affinity with birds. This love for them inspires her work. Surrounded by the birds and animals that she loves drawing, she has immersed herself in her creativity.

She studies, and captures people in everyday life, doing day to day activities.

Lindy loves the subtleties of watercolours, but works in other media, like pastels and oils as well.

Honourable Mention – LightSpaceTime ‘Nature’ Art Exhibition, 2019

9th Place – LightSpaceTime 9th ‘Nature’ Art Exhibition, 2019

Special Merit – LightSpaceTime ‘Nature’ Art Exhibition, 2019

Degrees of Realism Art Exhibition –  Weylandts Nelspruit, South Africa, 2020

K.E.E.P. (Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project) Exhibition – Online, 2020

Karin Kruger

Karin D Kruger grew up in the Kruger National Park where her father was a Game Ranger. Until she was fourteen years old she lived at Mahlangeni, an isolated game ranger station in the northwest region of the park. They had to row a boat across the Greater Letaba river, filled with hippos and crocodiles, to get to their house.

After Mahlangeni, they lived at Crocodile Bridge and Pretoriuskop. Throughout the years a variety of strays and orphans from the animal kingdom were temporary members of her family, including a honey badger with lots of character! They raised an orphaned lion cub, called Leo, who was eventually repatriated to the wild. Leo taught her the emotional moods of wild animals as expressed by their eyes and body language.

Getting to know the animals as family as well as sharing a home with the wild ones, imprinted the animals in Karin’s art.

Her mother Kobie Krüger wrote three autobiographies on their time spent living in the Kruger National Park. The books are called, “Mahlangeni, All Things Wild and Wonderful” and “The Wilderness Family.”

Her grandfather, film producer Jamie Uys used wild animals as film stars in his movies, Beautiful People and The Gods Must Be Crazy. The art of portraying the grace and beauty of animals remains her passion.

Karin studied under the artist Lindie Waterkeyn.
Nature preservation and appreciation remains her passion and she hopes to create awareness and connection through her art.

Karin lives in Noordhoek, Cape Town with her husband Michael Baines, son Kelly and daughter Sabrina, together with horses, dogs, cats and tortoises.

Lyndsay Wiggan

Being a wanderlust at heart, Lyndsay is at home exploring both the bushveld and sailing the wild blue oceans.  Her roots are in the Lowveld where the love of nature create a diverse pallet and are a constant source of inspiration for her.  Lyndsay is an avid sailor, sea life enthusiast.   Colours of the vivid tropics can be found in her work.  

Acrylic is her favoured medium, however pencil and aquarell are always close at hand. 

She hope that people will feel as if they were there in the moment and feel the mood of her paintings.