André Taljaard is a mostly self-taught artist residing in Centurion. He matriculated at Lyttelton Manor High School in 1974 and has spent a large portion of his life in Centurion where he and his wife Nora, are now retired. What started out as a hobby some 10 years ago, has now become a way of life and he spends much of his time in front of the canvas.
From 2016 to 2019 he spent time with well-known artists Lienkie Lombard and Lute Vink, learning the finer details of impressionism and realism in animal art, Lienkie being a valuable mentor during that time in Leeupoort Vakansie Oord, where he stayed for 5 years. He was part of the art society in Leeupoort where he exhibited and has sold most of his artwork.
While he has dabbled with watercolour, pastels, charcoal and acrylics, his preferred medium is oil. His subject matter is diverse – from fauna and flora to landscapes to portraits to still life but recently he has favoured Karoo scenes following a stint in a caravan, in which he and his wife toured the country for almost three years. He prefers using a fine brush to broad strokes.
He has done a number of commissions, mainly portraits, animals and still life art but these days he focuses on Karoo scenes because he hopes they bring a certain stillness to the viewer.