23/06/2026
✏️ Artist Spotlight: Marili Prinsloo ✍️🖊
Marili has a beautiful story because it's not just about art—it's about motherhood, resilience, and building a life through creativity. That feels like the emotional heart of her feature.
For Marili Prinsloo, art has never been just a hobby—it has always been part of who she is.
From a young age, she was constantly creating, crafting, and drawing. One of her earliest memories takes her back to Grade 1, where a teacher taught her to colour using small circular motions rather than lines. That lesson not only helped her win a colouring competition that year, but it became a technique she still uses in her coloured pencil work today.
Although she studied art and design throughout her school years, Marili considers herself largely self-taught. At the age of 21, she picked up a pencil with a simple goal: to draw a portrait of her daughter.
That portrait changed everything.
What began as an act of love became the foundation of an artistic journey that continues to grow today.
Portraiture remains Marili's first love. Whether drawing people, pets, or wildlife, she is captivated by the stories hidden within a face—the emotions, memories, and connections that can be brought to life from nothing more than a blank sheet of paper and a handful of pencils.
Working primarily in graphite and coloured pencil, she is known for her realistic style and remarkable attention to detail. While she enjoys both colour and grayscale work, black-and-white portraits will always hold a special place in her heart.
For Marili, every artwork tells a story.
Many of the commissions she creates honour loved ones, treasured pets, and meaningful memories. Others are inspired by her own experiences and emotions. Whatever the subject, her goal remains the same: to create work that connects with people and inspires them.
Perhaps the greatest influence on her journey has been her daughters.
At a pivotal moment in her life, Marili realised she needed to create a better future for her family. Art became the answer. Through her work, she has been able to provide for her daughters while remaining a hands-on mother—something she considers one of life's greatest blessings.
Beyond the studio, Marili finds peace in gardening, reading, and spending time in nature. She is also passionate about living compassionately, using only cruelty-free art supplies in keeping with her vegan lifestyle.
Her career continues to gain momentum, with recent exhibitions through Kunye Art Foundation and exciting opportunities ahead, including exhibitions at Decorex and Spring in Art Colour Festival, as well as ambassador work with STAEDTLER during the company's 75th anniversary celebrations.
If her art could speak, it would carry a simple but powerful message:
"You don't need a degree to create art. You just need to feel it."
Marili Prinsloo is part of the Kunye collective—bringing heart, compassion, and extraordinary realism to every piece she creates.
