Portraiture

Words

This self-portrait received 3rd Place in the 2017 National Sanlam SPI Portrait Award in South Africa.

My son captured this image of me on his phone during a particularly busy afternoon whilst I was multi-tasking. I received a phone call and sat down on the ground to focus on the calI.

It very accurately describes where I was in my life at the time.

This painting has since become a clear marker amongst all my work of the beginning of my personal transition to authenticity.

This was truly the first time I let go and painted from my heart – enjoying the process of combining loose brushstrokes, dry-brushing, drips and more detailed painted areas in the face – all in one painting.

I almost felt rebellious – not concerned in the least about who would approve of it or not. It made me smile!

I titled this painting Words as the spoken word has the power to either edify and build others and ourselves up, or tear down and destroy. 

Faith’s Dementia

Painting my Mother’s portrait was extremely painful. My sister [traceyraeimages] took this reference pic of her three years before she passed away after suffering from Dementia for eleven years.

There were many moments whilst working on the lines and crevices of her face that I couldn’t see what I was doing due to the tears streaming down my face.

Again, many families can testify to the trauma involved with caring for a Dementia patient and witnessing their gradual loss of physical, emotional and mental abilities. My sister was her primary care-giver and it was devastingly painful for her.

The strong and vivacious Mother we grew up with was not the utterly frail and vulnerable woman we said goodbye to. Looking back I can see how creating this portrait helped me in a huge way to let go of her long before her time came.

I deliberately positioned my Mother’s face near the edge of the canvas looking up towards the light to describe the faith she had in our Father. I used the lines and marks on the left to visually describe the disintegration of the timeline and memories of her life as she experienced it.

She will always live in our hearts.

What If I Can Fly?

This portrait was accepted into the National Sanlam SPI Portrait Awards 2019 in the Top 100.

I had received a video-clip from my son showing me a special moment where a yellow butterfly had flown indoors and settled on his shoulder.

It spent about 20 minutes crawling from his shoulder to the top of his head where it rested. Apparently it tickled his scalp. After awhile he placed the butterfly outside in a plant where it happily remained for the day.

This experience touched my heart as it spoke about my son’s deep compassion for nature and people alike.

I saw this as an opportunity to draw an analogy of the vulnerability of the butterfly with my son and to use the butterfly as a promise of his potential yet to be fulfilled. 

Becoming

A year of intense challenges in 2020 ended with my son facing a life-threatening illness.

As any mother will testify, this experience was extremely traumatic, not only for me but for our entire family. I believe in the power of prayer and many stood by us as my son fought his way through it all.

A few months later, fully recovered, I watched my son as he shared his thoughts with me.

A new strength had emerged which was tangible in his eyes and I was overwhelmed with gratitude to my Beloved.

My son is the visible proof of His love for me. I couldn’t resist capturing that moment and so this portrait was born. 

Miguel & Abbi

“Yesterday (on our 2nd wedding anniversary) we picked up this amazing painting done by Art by Shiralee, we were BLOWN AWAY when we saw the reveal.

This picture was taken the day we were engaged by Ardeen van Heerden. Even more so it’s special to us because we won our wedding competition(s) with this photo.

To have it painted was so special.

Thank you so much Shiralee Siebert Honestly, this is soooo amazing! You don’t just paint with amazing talent. You paint with prayer and that’s something so special.