Welcome to my studio! I have been painting full-time since 2013 and teaching art workshops since 2015. I am thankful for all of my Inner Circle and collectors who have encouraged and supported my work over the years.

I paint landscapes and botanicals in oil and acrylic paint, and enjoy playing with collage compositions too.

My paintings are celebrations of the beauty of nature, designed to bring the essence of wild things into your space.

Selected Exhibitions

• Affie 100 Fonds Auction, Pretoria, group show July 2021
• The Pencil Club, Umhlanga, group show March – September 2021
• The Connie Scribante Gallery, Umhlanga, group, show March – September 2021
• Lifestyle Gallery, Hermanus, solo show, ‘Abundance’ January 2021
• ‘Art in the Sun’, Stanford Animal Welfare fundraiser, group show December 2020
• Journey, Stanford, solo show, ‘Florescence’ November 2020
• Spookhuis, Stanford, joint exhibition with Catherine Brennon, December 2019
• Sumaridge Wine Estate, Women’s Month Exhibition, group show August 2019
• The Art Gallery, Hermanus, ‘Winter Salon’ group show June 2019
• FLAG Art Gallery, Hermanus, group show May 2019
• Moon + Bird Art House, Stanford, group show June 2018
• Through The Looking Glass, Stanford, group show September 2017
• Jeanne Retief Studio, Stanford, solo show ‘Mother Nature’ 2016
• Stanford Local Art Harvest, Stanford, 2015

Art Education

Basic Drawing (evening classes with Alex Downes 2010) – Frank Joubert Art Centre
Watercolour (instruction with John-Clive Dawson-Squibb 2011) – Frank Joubert Art Centre
Illustration (part-time course 2012) – Ruth Prowse School of Art

My Story:

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa. The eldest of four sisters. We grew up in Namibia, exploring the vast open spaces and wild treasures on offer. I had an academic education with no art, but I did draw for my own enjoyment, and learned other creative pursuits from my parents.

After high school, I struggled to find the right direction to pursue and pretty much fell into a job in the travel industry. I enjoyed the perks of the job and travelled whenever I had the opportunity to. This continued for ten years.

Eventually I decided to try something new and  accepted a position as PA to the owner of a mail order clothing company in London. After a while working with my new boss and learning everything I could from her, I was promoted to marketing manager of the company. I had no idea at the time how useful these skills would be to me years down the line when I began selling my art.

After my second child was born, I was a housewife and stay-at-home-mom for ten years. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say that I finally had the head space at this time to think about what it was that I really wanted to pursue in life.

I went to my first evening drawing class at Frank Joubert Art Centre in 2010 and learned to draw. That led me to a watercolour class in 2011, and a part time illustration course in 2012. With these skills under my belt, I began to experiment, and have never stopped.

Since 2014 I have been living in the historical village of Stanford in the Overberg, South Africa.