Sharleen Boaden creates impressionistic paintings that reflect her observations and interpretation of various aspects of everyday life.

From a young age, Sharleen has been drawn to the genres of art and literature and her poems have been featured in three editions of poetry compilations by the Poetry Institute of Africa.  Her paintings have been showcased in many exhibitions and festivals.  In 2010 and 2011, she was included in the top twenty selling artists at Pietermaritzburg’s Art in the Park.  Her work is represented in selected galleries in South Africa and her paintings can be found in both local and overseas private collections.

Sharleen puts herself – the poetry of who she is – into her art.  Her work evokes an emotional connection between the painting and its viewer.

Sharleen paints from her home studio in Durban, South Africa.

SHARLEEN BOADEN: Artist's Statement

In my paintings, I endeavour to capture the emotive quality in the subjects I portray.  I achieve this by variation of brushstroke, which creates movement and life.  I also use contrasts of light and colour in each composition to create areas of interest.  I am an impressionist, rather than a realist, preferring the viewer to be drawn by the essence of the subject rather than by it being just a replica of real life.  I love painting people and in my floral paintings, roses continue unceasingly to inspire me.

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JULIA FORMAN: Artist's Statement

Being born and bred in South Africa I am captivated by those little moments in our daily lives that we all know so well, children at play, the  African women working tirelessly in the fields, the daily interaction of African life, be it rural or urban, the harvest time, the shepherds with their sheep, the daily commute.I strive to capture that moment in time, the attitude of the body, the essence of the subject that tells the whole story. My figures purposefully seldom have defined faces, yet you seem to recognise someone you know in them all.

So it is, that you will find me in my studio, music playing, often working on several paintings at once, moving from one to the other, changing mediums, changing direction, catching the movement. Then, when the foundation has been laid, I settle down and really get to focussing on each subject. They receive my full attention and we get to know each other well. Once complete, a relationship has been formed, each painting depicting subject and artist, hand in hand.

I have paintings in private and corporate collections worldwide and am represented locally at Johan Smith Gallery – ClarensGreen Gallery – Mt EdgecombeKZNSA Gallery – Bulwer Road,  DurbanEtching etc   - Umgeni Park, Durban

My work can be viewed at http://www.juliaforman.com