TONY DE FREITAS

I have two passions, art and music, and I choose to invest in both. Music satisfies me on an emotional level, whilst art on the more intellectual and creative level. My approach to painting is much like a jazz musician towards his music. I enjoy pulling together a plethora of apparently random strokes, that all contribute to what I see as the final picture. I work rapidly, painting the initial sketch on the canvas with a paintbrush, much like a water colourist. I then use a palette knife to apply thick textured paint. As I apply layer upon layer much like in jazz music, I improvise and modify freely. The process is impromptu and I add-lib in a very impressionistic manner. As the painting evolves the end result is never predictable. Using a palette knife forces me to be bold and decisive and prevents me from being overly precise. Rather than a photographic style, I like to let the eye finish the picture. A painting should be like a conversation, the artist shouldn't do all the talking. Adding too much precise detail results in the artist boringly dominating the conversation. My subjects include landscapes, seascapes and portraiture. The commonality is my interest in the effect light has on the subjects. I work from my studio at home in Drummond overlooking the Valley of 1000 Hills. My works are currently exhibited at prestigious galleries in the Cape, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Clarens and Durban. I've been painting since I was a child and professionally full time since 1999. I ran art workshops in Hermanus and now recently in Kwazulu-Natal.