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My name is
Pieter Van Tonder. I was born on the 14th of May 1980. I started
painting out of the blue seven years ago when a sequence of
powerful dreams made me realise my real calling in life. I left
behind a brief flirtation with a career in graphic design,
sacrificed financial security and flung myself with all that I am
over the edge and into the arms of this new wild undertaking.
Passion, vision and determination there was no shortage of. I
started painting furiously and the paintings had to sustain me
from the start.
The luxury of freedom, that came with this new journey gave me the
opportunity to live a simple life, close to nature, away from the
pressures and distractions of our fast-paced society and I could
do some serious self-exploration, turned myself inside-out and
found great peace with myself, my Creator and the universe. This
deep seated feeling of purpose drives me.
A second powerful dream a few years ago convinced me to pack up
and go North. I arrived with but a few tattered paintings, a few
brushes, a powerful talent and a burning fire in my heart on the
small island of Inis Mor off the west coast of Ireland. From a
very humble start I worked myself into this little community,
depending on my talents alone to sustain me. I spent a lot of time
in a stone-age fort high on the vertical cliffs of this beautiful
and magical place and It was during this period that my paintings
and skill really developed and matured. There I basically learnt
to paint. The phase on Inis Mor ended with my first big solo
exhibition in which I involved the local talent in poetry and
storytelling and it was a huge success.
I returned to South Africa and for the last few years worked very
hard towards establishing myself as a prominent artist here.
Financially it has been a challenging time, but that partly
because of my refusal to compromise on what I do. I have to paint
with integrity and express what my heart speaks of. I have been
humbled in the experience, in the often powerful way that some of
the paintings have touched the lives of certain individuals. To be
a vessel in such a way is a tremendous privilege and a reward that
far overshadows the financial component.
I work in oils on canvas. Most of the paintings are based on
dreams. I love creating landscapes from imagination and the
illusion of vastness, and a rugged beauty of nature in the raw.
These landscapes form gentle backgrounds to the elements that I
build into it and the result is a painting with a surreal feel and
a life of its own. Many of the paintings hold a subtle massage,
that speaks to the hearts of those open.
Until recently I sold mostly privately, believing that the right
person and I will cross paths. The time has come however that my
paintings must reach a wider audience. The need to spread their
wings and fly. The first seven years formed me, sharpened the
skills and the tools, and taught me a lot about myself, my
strengths and weaknesses. It also showed me why so many people
never find peace and happiness.
Over the next seven years, through my art as medium, I will subtly
speak and take part in addressing this problem, and will work
towards the change in the world that most of us are looking for. A
break-away from the obsession with material things as a way to
still the voice inside.
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