Mixed media demonstration by watercolourist Merissa Slingerland

Western Cape Art Society will host watercolourist Merissa Slingerland for a mixed media demonstration on Thursday, October 9, at the Rotary Club Hall, Lourensford Road, Somerset West.

She will show how to paint with watercolours by combining diverse art materials like paints, papers, stamps, and found objects to create a single artwork, focusing on layering, texture, and colour exploration.

Ms Slingerland said she learnt to paint with watercolour in 1985 in Swakopmund, Namibia. She began selling her work in the local Swakopmund galleries.

“I have since exchanged the ochre, sienna and umber of the desert for the vast range of greens and blues of the Cape. Now I daily show up at my board and palette to apply colour to paper in this extraordinary medium. The spell still binds. Visual art touches us in deep places, and watercolour carries impact beyond the plan and the skill of the artist.

“I work with watercolour to create fine art for discerning collectors. I am fascinated by the creative potential each time I apply a loaded brush to 100% cotton ground. The medium is simple, immediate, but somewhat unpredictable. It taxes the artist’s proficiency and boldness, calls for care and abandon and responds well to consistent practice and intent to learn,” she said.

She said she has a watercolour painting accepted in the San Diego Watercolour Society 2025 International exhibition that opened at the end of September, and three watercolour paintings in the South African Society of Artists (SASA) annual exhibition.

In 2023, she was awarded Best Watercolour in the annual exhibition by SASA.

The event will start at 6:30 pm. It will cost R20 for members and R30 for non-members.

For more information, contact Colleen May at wcartsoc@gmail.com.