Shades of sea – Meet Ballito’s seascape artist

She elegantly swishes her magic paintbrush over the massive canvas, swaying from side to side as the masterpiece comes to life.

“You have to move when you paint water – it moves, there is emotion and you need to feel it and move with it to get it right,” said artist Anne-Marie De Waal who relocated to Ballito in 1996.

De Waal grew up on a mountain in the Western Cape and both her and her older sister, Francisca, had a natural knack for drawing and painting.

“Our parents were not artistic, but they always encouraged us to do art and learn about it. When it rained in the afternoon I used to draw and my sister would paint on the weekend. We had a wonderful childhood on the mountain,” said De Waal, who lost her husband to cancer when she was only 28 and has one daughter, Celeste and granddaughter, Khayla, who both live in Scotland.

Her parents later sent her to Stellenbosch for formal art classes which gave her a solid foundation for the practical and technical aspects of art.

“Once you understand the basics of mixing colours and even just how to hold your tools, it gives you the confidence to paint anything.”

While Anne-Marie is known for her seascapes, local upmarket hotels and restaurants have commissioned her florals, wildlife, African culture and even historic war scene paintings.

“You have to be versatile if you want to make a living from art. I always go back to the sea though.”

She’s captured all the moods of the sea – raging in the night, peaceful at sunrise and romantic at sunset.

“I love the sea, sometimes I just watch and admire it – all those colours and shades, you think it is just blue, but there are probably 20 shades of blues and greens in a wave alone and then there is the sand. I paint five to six different layers just to get that special effect and depth of the sea. It looks easy to paint, but it is difficult.”

She said she needs about five weeks to complete a painting.

“I usually paint from 8am till 2pm without rest or food and then I collapse,” said De Waal with a chuckle.

Visit her Facebook page – Anne-Marie De Waal’s Art Studio or give her a ring at 073 199 8339.

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