11/08/2026
🎨 Artist Spotlight: Renee Morkel 👩🎨
Born at the foot of Table Mountain, Renee Morkel seems to have always had a natural connection with the world around her. From an early age, there were flowers to sketch, bugs to observe and, quite literally, clay in her hands.
Her love for art deepened when she discovered her first collection of The Great Artists magazines. Among the many artists she encountered, Joseph Mallord William Turner and Vincent van Gogh particularly spoke to her. They helped her realise that painting was something she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life.
Renee studied ceramics at Cape College, completing her N6, and later studied Art History through UNISA. Her formal training included still life and figure painting, while her exploration of plants and landscapes developed through years of self-directed observation and experimentation.
Today, Renee refuses to put herself inside a particular artistic box.
Sometimes her work leans towards realism. Other times it becomes loose and intuitive. She chooses the marks, colours and techniques that best express what she wants to say rather than following a fixed formula. Strong contrasts between light and dark, bold colour and sketch-like contour hatching often make their way into her work.
She loves all mediums, choosing them according to what she wants to achieve. Oils are her preference for realistic studies, soft pastels for outdoor work, and mixed media when she wants to be more expressive.
At the heart of Renee's work is a fascination with light, colour, mood and atmosphere, particularly within the South African landscape.
She wants to capture the intense sunlight and glowing warmth of our flora and landscapes—the fleeting moments that can make an ordinary scene feel extraordinary.
And there is no shortage of inspiration.
Renee walks and explores constantly, whether wandering through natural spaces, urban gardens or even discovering a beautiful restaurant. She photographs what catches her eye, later studying and cropping those images before beginning a painting.
Her favourite place to work is a sunny spot beside the sliding door leading onto her patio, where she can work in natural light. And when the sun begins to set, something special happens. She puts on happy music, marking the moment when the hard work of painting is finished and she can simply appreciate the beauty she has created.
For Renee, every stage of creating has its own appeal. The greatest challenge comes when a painting isn't working and she has to find a way forward. But perhaps that is also part of the freedom she values so much—the opportunity to experiment, solve problems and discover something unexpected.
Her inspiration extends beyond visual art. Renee loves anything that awakens the senses: ballroom dancing, music, hand-rolled masala incense, and collecting unusual gems and rocks.
Her connection to nature has also taken her work far beyond South Africa. Her art has been exhibited at the Appel Farm Arts & Music Center in New Jersey, USA, and her work has found collectors in countries including Denmark, Hungary, Russia and China.
Looking ahead, Renee has many exhibitions already booked and plenty of ideas still waiting to become reality. One of her dreams is to combine outdoor exploration and art through extended treks, collecting and documenting natural specimens and the beauty of different ecosystems along the way.
It seems fitting that her chosen theme song is El Amor by Julio Iglesias. To Renee, the song's message about love as a universal and selfless force mirrors the way she feels about nature. Its beauty belongs to everyone, across every culture and generation.
She describes her art as a love letter to the beauty of nature.
And if her artwork could speak, its message would be simple:
"Beauty and joy can be found wherever you look for it."
Perhaps that is exactly what Renee Morkel invites us to do—to slow down, look a little closer, and notice the beauty that has been surrounding us all along.
And her advice to her younger creative self?
"Create more, procrastinate less."
Something tells us she still intends to follow that advice.
