Mary-Jane Persson Artist and Teacher

My interest in art only really started in my late teens, just before I finished school.  Excited to learn more about the arts, I moved from Johannesburg to Durban, South Africa, where I studied Fine Art.  I majored in both painting and ceramics and soon after qualifying in Fine Art, I moved back to Johannesburg where I currently have my own art studio as well as a private Art School which I started back in 1997.  Adding to this,  in 2020, I opened my International Online Art Academy where I teach people from all over the world as well as many South Africans. I teach painting and drawing and run both weekly classes and part time art courses.  I teaches adults and children, encouraging each individual to bring out their own creativity.

Many years I've spent learning and mastering various art mediums from oil painting, watercolours, chalk pastel to ceramics, printmaking, even pewter and stained glass.  In my own personal studio, I continue to grow as an artist every day and never stop trying new things and practicing what I learn.  My absolute favourite art process at the moment is painting on large scale surfaces and expressing myself on these giant canvasses through texture and colour.  I love texture and enjoy bringing this out in all the different mediums I work in, including textural watercolours.   I love the tactile quality texture brings in an artwork, often encouraging a viewer to want to reach out to the art piece, thus involving the viewer in the process through touch. 

Nature is one of my big loves, so capturing scenes of land or water and animals is something I love to paint; forest scenes and expansive landscapes that can envelop the viewer as they stand in front of the canvas.  These paintings of mine stretch beyond their boundaries, losing the viewer in the texture-filled brushstrokes, allowing one to get carried away in the story scene.  The paintings come to life and the journey begins…

I am fortunate enough to live on a peaceful 10 acre property in Honeydew, where my view extends to the distant Krugersdorp Hill, with only trees, veld, river reeds and tranquil water in my sight.  All of this inspires my paintings of landscapes and abstract art which extend past their boundaries on the canvas.  My colours are influenced by the nature surrounding me and the magnificent African sunsets which I see clearly each evening. 

I have sold my art world wide and have exhibited in several galleries in South Africa.  Currently, I am starting my own Online Gallery where I can sell my art directly to the public and engage with people on a more personal level.  I do many commissions and love getting to know people and understanding what they love and want in an art piece that may hang in their home one day. 

Art and teaching art is my passion…any and every form of visual art holds my heart and keeps me interested in what today has to offer.   I hope to share this passion with as many people who have a common interest.   Feel free to reach out and ask me any art questions you may have.