Professional portrait artist

Martie du Toit, an artist, graphic and interior designer from Pretoria, South Africa, is without a doubt one of the country’s, and arguably the world’s, seemingly unsung masters of art . . . in many different forms.

Though a Jill of all trades and, without a doubt, master of all – she tames every genre and art form that she lays her hands on with exquisite skill and creativity to delivery spot-on projects for both local and global clients, as well as for her personal ventures – the heart of her endeavors is painting portraits.

talent abound

Besides portraits, she paints anything from flowers to wildlife – the latter being marketed extensively in the United States of America (USA) – whilst staying true to her portraits passion, especially of African tribes.

However, just as her talent is by no means restricted to painting one specific genre or subject, she is similarly not restricted to only one form of art. Bearing testament to her gamut of abilities is her seamless and effortless transition from, for instance, designing and drawing up plans for the Ndlovu Lodge & Venue, including a private residence with horse stables in Pretoria east (see her work here www.ndlovulodge.com), to being privately commissioned by a Finnish businessman for not only paintings, but also for designing two wristwatch faces that were handcrafted in Switzerland.

magnificent highlights

Even though her career is, in some ways, still in its infancy with meters of canvas still waiting to be filled with her extraordinary artistic gifts, she already has an array of highlights demonstrating her ability to convert an empty canvas, bare piece of land or shell of a house into timeless, classic works of art and, subsequently, contributing to and capturing pieces of history with and in her work.

Her pole position career highlight, thus far, was being commissioned by the South African Government to paint the ultimate portrait: that of Nelson Mandela as a retirement gift presented to him at the presidential inauguration of Thabo Mbeki. Hereafter she worked as an in-house artist for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund – her artworks being used in corporate stationary like diaries, calendars and the like.

Further highlights of her career include, amongst others:

• Painting an honorary porter of Springbok Rugby Players from 1947 to 2004, which was presented at a gala event.
• Exhibiting at the Billfish 15000 international competition, in Sodwana Bay, South Africa, for three consecutive years.
• Exhibiting at the Wildlife and Environment Society exhibition in October 2000.
• Painting and designing the cover for the wildlife film, The African Game. The original artwork was later presented to Prince Reza of Iran during the film’s premier in Paris, France, in November 2000.
• Her Orphans of Aids painting was used as the logo for the Miss SA Pageant.
• An exhibition in Milan, Italy, at the International Arts Exhibition in December 2000.
• Being nominated for the “Hunting in Art” prize by the International Council for Wildlife Conservation in Paris, France, where some of her paintings are still on display at the Hunting Museum in Paris.
• Exhibiting at the Safari Club International exhibitions, in the USA, in 2002 and 2003.
• Exhibitions in various American cities, including Chicago, Missouri, St. Louis, Detroit, San Antonio and Houston.
• Painting various works for hotels of the Golden Dolphin hotel group in Florida, USA, and the in Dominican Republic.