Izak & Suzanne Troskie
especially felt drawn towards the landscape genre because of her love for the Free State grassland vista’s. She has early memories of her mother visiting Frans Claerhout and Stefan and Iris Ampenberger in Thaba Nchu who were prominent artists working in the Free State at the time. She attended Art school at Port Elizabeth Technikon and later specialized in ceramics at Witwatersrand Technikon.
She then pursued a career in ceramics and started a ceramics factory producing large pots and lamps for the interior decorating market. She met her artist husband Isak Troskie in 2011 and decided to return to her first love of painting full time and pursue a career in painting. The South African landscape was the subject matter still most attractive to her, especially the beautiful Cape landscape. In her own words “The Cape is unique for me in its awesome grandeur and sheer scale of landscape and offers endless inspiration in terms of the combination of unique flora in the magical fynbos, majestic mountains and wild sea so unique to the southern tip of Africa. It has a beauty that almost makes one feel heady and overwhelmed and it is something of that I would like to capture in my Cape paintings. The wildness and pristine beauty of the national parks surrounding Cape Town are also a great source of inspiration.
She uses an open impressionistic style with an emphasis on the fresh impasto brush stroke which is placed once off almost similar to laying mosaics. Her color palette is vivid and strong and she strives to convey a feeling of energy and vitality in her work. She cites Peerneef, Van Gogh and Erin Hanson as strong influences of her painting style. Resource: http://www.capegallery.co.za/suzanne_troskie_cv.htm
Isak Troskie
Isak was born in 1969 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He took to art as a small boy, rummaging in the rubbish bins to find the materials. It was only after he had tried his hand at many things, he realized that art was his vocation. His paintings start out as impressionistic abstracts based on the landscape and then he stands back to see how the swirling shapes of color can be refined. His work is very influenced by the Japanese philosophy ‘Wabi-Sabi’ which embraces an acceptance of transience and imperfection. He is mindful of the beauty in the way things are without refinement. He is currently exploring the term ‘In praise of the little things and quiet spaces’ and so the humble sparrow will feature in his paintings over say the more majestic eagle. Isak often works collaboratively on a painting with his artist wife Susanne. Resource: https://wp-demo-4.artlooksites.com/artists/isak-troskie/196/?data_source=maste