About Solly the Artist
I’m Solly - a Cape Town–based painter who first picked up a brush in 2023. By day, I was working as a software engineer. By night, I found myself pulled into painting, teaching myself through online resources and daily practice. What began as curiosity quickly grew into obsession, and one of my bedrooms is now a full working studio filled with canvases, sketchbooks, and the smell of linseed oil.
How it started
My journey started unexpectedly: I stumbled across a TikTok video of an artist creating miniature oil paintings, capturing scenes directly from the landscape. That spark kept me awake all night researching supplies, techniques, and possibilities. By the next morning I was at my local art store buying an easel and paint - and I haven’t stopped since.
My practice
I began with oil landscapes, drawn to the light and energy of Cape Town’s mountains, forests, and trails. Over time, I’ve branched into portraits, abstracts, and mixed media, exploring how different mediums can speak to one another. My work is painterly, loose, and gestural - I embrace imperfection and let the process show through visible brushstrokes.
Every piece begins with a moment: sunlight breaking through trees, figures moving apart, clouds catching fire at sunset. From there, the painting grows beyond memory, carrying both movement and stillness, intimacy and openness.
The vision
My dream is to grow this practice into a full-time life in art - building a body of work that is both deeply personal and widely accessible, through originals, works on paper, and limited prints.
Thank you for being here, and for taking the time to explore my work.