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Hannatjie Barnard is a self-taught, part-time artist with eight years of experience. After exploring different art mediums, she discovered her passion for pencil drawings, focusing on animals and human faces. The fine details in her subjects fascinate her, driving her to capture the depth and emotions in every piece.
She credits Susan Wagener as her mentor, whose guidance continues to inspire and shape her artistic journey.
Before pursuing art, Hannatjie was a pre-primary teacher. She is a mother of three and a proud grandmother of three. Her grandchildren have been a special source of inspiration, leading her to focus on portrait drawings. She finds deep joy in capturing their expressions, reliving the emotions reflected in their eyes through her artwork.
Laurenda van Breda is a nature-inspired Fine Art Photographer with a deep appreciation for the Overberg’s rich biodiversity. Her love for nature began in childhood, exploring the landscapes of the region. These early experiences led to a passionate career in conservation, where fynbos and biodiversity became an important part of her life.
Her Botanical Fine Art Photography is inspired by the delicate beauty of fynbos and the natural world. She creates Cyanotype artworks that showcase the Cape’s unique biodiversity, using sustainable materials carefully collected from the fynbos biome.
For the Franskraal Art Route, Laurenda’s exhibition will focus on the natural beauty of Franskraal, featuring her photographs, botanicals, and other nature-sourced materials.
With her conservation background, she ensures that all materials used in her work are ethically and sustainably sourced, reflecting her commitment to both art and nature.
Hester Coetzee is an artist who embraces the flow of creativity with every brushstroke. Her approach to art is intuitive, allowing each piece to unfold naturally as she paints.
Artistic Vision
Her work is a blend of colours, textures, and emotions. Hester’s subjects range from portraits and flowers to marine life, often weaving elements of surrealism into her compositions. Through her art, she tells stories of love, joy, peace, and light.
For Hester, each painting serves as a reminder of the unlimited potential inside all of us, showing that wonderful things happen when we let go and allow our true essence to emerge.
Dries and Susan started painting after retiring. Since then, they have sold hundreds of paintings. They enjoy working with oil paints but also like experimenting with other materials. Dries also does woodturning and mosaic work, while Susan teaches painting classes. They love sharing their talents with others.
Isabel-Anne is a self-taught artist with a long career in the business world, working as a management consultant, lecturer, and executive coach. She has a Master's in Clinical Psychology and another in Business Administration or Leadership. Despite her career in science and business, she has always felt like an artist at heart.
She grew up on a farm in the Free State as the only daughter among six brothers and has lived in Gauteng and Cape Town. For the past few years, she has been living her dream as a full-time artist in Franskraal, Western Cape.
Shared Visual Poetry
Though her early work focused on capturing realistic forms with precision, Isabel-Anne has evolved her style, working more freely in an impressionistic manner. She often uses a limited oil paint palette, drawing inspiration from Tonalism. To her, a good painting should evoke emotion, something a photograph might capture more realistically but without the depth of feeling she seeks to convey.
Isabel-Anne’s work mainly features landscapes with mountains, trees, valleys, and canola fields, often taking on accidental shapes. Clouds, in particular, fascinate her - they can be calm or dramatically swirling, depending on her creative mood.
She believes the story of a painting unfolds both in the artist’s creative process and in the viewer’s mind, which is why she often avoids giving titles to her works. For her, art is a shared visual poetry, where the viewer’s emotions and imagination create unique meaning for each piece.
Her invitation: "I encourage you to pause and experience the emotion of a piece. Listen to its story. If it speaks to you, pay attention to how it connects with your own feelings and thoughts."
Martha van der Westhuizen is an artist and photographer. She studied Graphic Design at Stellenbosch University and later worked as a graphic designer and photographer for an architectural firm.
Since the early 90s, she has explored various art forms, including traditional French framing and watercolour painting. From 2000 onwards, she has focused mainly on acrylic painting, creating still life studies that blend abstract and realism.
Photography has always been a great passion for Martha and remains an important part of her artistic expression. Her photography covers a range of subjects, including portraits, macro photography, and landscapes.
Connie Pienaar developed a love for beads at a young age. Growing up on a farm, she spent weekdays at boarding school and weekends at home. Her mother, a skilled creator, often made special outfits for her dolls. One particular memory stands out - a beautifully beaded wedding gown for her doll, which sparked Connie's lifelong passion for beadwork.
Though life took her in different directions, she rediscovered her love for beads in 2009. Over time, she explored various techniques, including stringing, looming, and bead weaving, before finding her true passion in bead embroidery. Today, Connie continues to create intricate and detailed beadwork, bringing her childhood dream to life.
Emile Cronje is a well-known South African artist whose work is popular among art collectors worldwide. He specialises in capturing typical South African scenes using vibrant colours across various media.
Emile lives in Franskraal with his wife, Estelle, and their son, Armand. Surrounded by the beautiful landscapes of mountains and the sea, he finds daily inspiration in nature.
Carine Fourie Badenhorst is a self-developed artist and writer who started her creative journey at a young age, long before YouTube tutorials were available. She learned through workshops, courses, and trial-and-error, shaping her own unique style.
Although she does not consider herself a professional artist, some of her artworks have been sold internationally to individuals and galleries.
As a writer, Carine spent eight years as an editorial writer before moving into self-publishing.
Being part of the Franskraal Art Route has given her the opportunity to explore new art genres for every Open Studio event.
She also offers "Kreativ Therapi" from her home, providing a holistic space for people to connect with their inner sanctuary through creativity.
Lindy is a self-taught artist who discovered her passion for painting after retiring from a successful career as a claims manager. Twelve years ago, she moved to Franskraal, seeking a fresh creative outlet. At the suggestion of a friend, she tried her hand at painting - a spark that ignited an unexpected and fulfilling journey into the world of art.
With initial guidance from her friend and online tutorials, Lindy immersed herself in oil painting. She was captivated by the medium’s richness and versatility, finding solace and inspiration in the creative process.
Artistic Achievements
• Created over 100 original paintings
• Completed 14 commissioned pieces for friends and family
• Donated artwork to local schools for fundraising auctions
• Restored damaged paintings, helping preserve cherished memories
Artistic Philosophy
Lindy believes that each painting holds sentimental value and tells a unique story. Her goal is to capture life’s beauty, emotions, and essence on canvas, creating timeless pieces that resonate with others.
Inspiration
• The natural beauty of Franskraal
• Personal experiences and emotions
• The works of other influential artists
Lindy paints under the name Lindy’s Art Studio, continually exploring and refining her craft as she brings her artistic visions to life.
Mimmie Pienaar is a skilled fine artist and qualified art teacher, living close to the sea, which greatly inspires her work. She works in a variety of mediums, including painting, drawing, and ceramic sculpture. Mimmie's art is influenced by the natural beauty of her surroundings, with the sea being a constant source of inspiration. As an experienced art teacher, she shares her passion and skills with others, creating artwork that reflects the world around her.
Elmarie Stofberg is a creative at heart, constantly inspired to create with words, visuals, or concepts. Her passion for words led her to earn a BA degree in languages and a master's degree in Linguistics. In 2021, she released her debut collection of poems featuring ekphrastic verses, which remains one of her proudest achievements.
Although she always dreamed of painting, Elmarie only began exploring this art form in 2010 during a chance painting lesson at an art workshop. From that moment, she embraced painting wholeheartedly, constantly learning and growing as an artist. Today, her work is displayed in various galleries, and she often participates in group exhibitions.
Elmarie’s art is inspired by finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. She deconstructs objects, landscapes, and emotions into pure form and color. Her goal is to inspire viewers to see the beauty in everyday things and to appreciate the world around them in a new way.
She works in mixed media, including acrylic paint, charcoal, pastels, graphite, colored pencils, and collage. Her process often incorporates natural materials like grass, seeds, leaves, sticks, or stones from the environment that inspires her work.
Elmarie’s passion for creativity and her unique perspective make her art a celebration of the beauty found in unexpected places.
