Isabelle du Toit (Professional Fine Artist)
"WE ARE MEANT TO BE THE SENTINELS, PROTECTORS OF WILDLIFE."
SORCIÈRE - (WITCH) (65 X 75 INCHES)
Additional Information
The idea for this painting came from wanting my own interpretation of a witch. I was partly raised in an area of Germany, where witches are celebrated with yearly parades full of mischievous fun.
My witch comes from my deeply respectful love for the old ladies I used to know in France and German villages, including my grandmother! It’s about kindness, aging, hard work, untold stories and even war that shaped their lives.
My other intent in choosing to paint a ‘witch’ is that witches were just outspoken women that society tried to silence. A reminder that we still have a long way to go.
The painting is also an homage to cats which never stop fascinating me. My cats have been my primary source of inspiration in all my years of painting. They are my constant respectful reminder of the beauty of wildlife.
Lastly, the panting is about our deep connection to our pets and their ability to make you look at the world in a more kind and measured way. Because cats very much remain wild animals, they are a reminder that all wildlife matters in a deep psychological way to humans.
Sorcière - oil on canvas 65x75 inches
About Me
My Background
Isabelle Du Toit's artistic inspiration comes directly from her personal observations, experiences and feelings regarding the world we live in today. Her work is essentially about compassion, empathy and universal inter-connectedness; hence a recurring theme in her work concerns humankind's encroachment on Nature and how the environment we have created for ourselves impacts us and all other species to which we are inescapably linked, physically as well as emotionally. She often explores modern isolation and loneliness. 'Ultimately, I think it important to leave sufficient room for the viewer's own interpretation', she says.
My Medium
I use oil paint and brushes on canvas to create my very detailed paintings. I mostly paint on canvas that I prepare to be very smooth before I apply any paint.
My Biography/Exhibitions and Awards
Exhibitions
2017 Nov. 18- Jan 2018 Cris Worley Fine Arts, "Truce" solo show, Dallas TX
2017 Aug. 3-6 Seattle Art Fair, Patricia Rovzar Gallery boothC19, Seattle WA
2016 April 14-17 Dallas Art Fair, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas TX
2016 Feb. 4 - 29 "Turning Point" solo show Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle WA
2015 Nov.12 - April 2, 2016. Grace Museum, "Menagerie" group show, Abaline, TX
2015 December Christmas group show, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle WA
2015 May 2015-February 2016 "Humanity series" Imago Galleries exhibition
2015 April - May Imago Galleries, Solo show "Humanity Series" Palm Desert, California.
2015 May 9-21 RJD Gallery, Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, Sag Harbor NY.
2015 April Dallas Art Fair, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas TX.
2015 March Trudy Labell, 15 year anniversary group show. Naples FL.
2014 December Christmas group show, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle WA.
2014 "Take Your Mark" drawing group show, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas TX.
2014 May Figurative Invitational, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH.
2013 November Solo Show, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2013 Dallas Art Fair, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas, TX
2013 Dallas Art Fair, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
2013 April 6 - May11, Solo Show, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas, TX
2012 Dec. 4-9 Art Miami, 101 /Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2012 December group show 20th anniversary celebration, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA
2012 Oct. 18-21 Texas Contemporary Art Fair, 101Exhibit, Houston, Texas
2012 September Art Platform LA, 101/Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA
2011 November 29 - Dec 3, Scope Miami, 101 Exhibit, Miami Fl, Booth E32
2011 November 3 - 28, Solo Show, Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2011 July 14 - 17, artMRKT Hamptons, Bridghampton, NY, 101 Exhibit, Booth 105
2011 April 29 - May 2, Art Chicago, 101 Exhibit, Miami, Fl. Booth 313.
2011 March12 - April 6, Solo Show, 101 Exhibit, Miami, FL.
2011 Jan 18-23, Los Angeles Art Show, CA, 101 Exhibit, Booth G181
2010 Dec 2 - Dec 31, 18th annual group show, Patricia Rovzar, Seattle WA.
2010 Nov 20, Eos Rising, Cris Worley Fine Arts, group show, Dallas, TX.
2010 Dec 2- February 6, Group Show II, 101 Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2010 Dec 8 Moss/Chumley Award, Meadow Museum, SMU, Dallas, Texas.
2010 Nov 30 - Dec 5 Scope Miami art fair, 101 Exhibit , MIami FL.
2010 September 9th, Epic Epoch, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Grand Opening group show, Dallas, TX.
2010 August 7th, group show, 101 Exhibit / Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY.
2010 July 9th - 11th, ArtHampton, 101 Exhibit, New York.
2010 June 12- July 29, Group Show, 101 Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2010 May 21 - June 21, Contemporary Realism, group show, Albemarle Gallery, London, UK.
2010 April 2 - May 3, Solo show, Particia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2010 February 5-7, Dallas Art fair, Pan American Art/ Cris Worley fine Arts.
2009 December, Annual Group Exhibition, Patricia Rovzar Gallary, Seattle WA.
2009 November 27, group show "Size Matters", Miller Gallery, Cincinnati Ohio.
2009 May 29-June 20, "Flight" Solo show, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe , New Mexico.
2009 April 16 - May 12, Allegro Gallery, "Sol de Agua" group show, Panama City, Panama.
2009 January 1 - February 14, Byron Roche Gallery, three persons show (du Toit, Hoffman, Hunter) Chicago, Illinois.
2009 January 1-31, Group Show, 'Reality Check', Trudy Labell Fine Art, Naples, Florida.
2008 November 21 - December 31, Group Show 'Object of Desire', Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
2008 October 17- November 30, 15th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
2008 July 24-27 Scope Art Fair Hamptons, New York, Pan American Art Projects, Dallas TX.
2008 June 12 -July 18, Summer group show, Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York, NY.
2008 May 30 - June 1, CADD Art Fair, Pan American Art Projects, Dallas, Texas
2008 May 10th to June 14th, " Flight" Solo show, Pan American Art Projects, Dallas, Texas.
2008 March 7 - April 7 "Still life, Objects and other Narratives", group show, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2008 February, "Reality Check", group show, Trudy Labell Fine Art, Naples, Florida.
2008 Jan 23-27, Los Angeles Art Show, Pan American Art Projects, Santa Monica, California
2007 Dec 6-9, Red Dot Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL, Pan American Art Projects
2007 October 11th to 14th, Bridge Art Fair, London UK, Wendt Gallery
2007 Septemeber 6 - 19, Solo Show, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2007 Sept 8 to Oct 3, Templeton Art Center, TCU, Art in the Metroplex (juror, Micheal Duncan, Editor for Art in America) Fort Worth, Texas.
2007 July -Summer Salon, Group Show, Wendt Gallery, Lagun a Beach, California
2007 May 19-20 CADD, Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas Art Fair. Pan American Art Pojects, Dallas, Texas
2007March 24 - May 6, Group Show, Haggerty Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas.
2007 March 16 - April 20, "Good Question" group show, Byron Roche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois.
2007 February, Group Small Paintings Show Wendt Gallery, CA
2007 January, Texas Art 2007, Juried competition (Juror: Mr Foster Carter, Curator of Drawings, Whitney Museum, NY). Williams Tower, Houston.
2006 October, 2 persons show, Harris Gallery, Houston, Texas
2006 September, International Guild of realism 2nd Annual juried show, Manitou Gallery, Santa Fee, New Mexico.
2006 July, Summer Salon Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2006 July, Vision 11 Summer Group Show, Byron Roche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2006 July, Wendt Gallery Showcase, new works, Laguna Beach, CA
2006 July, Summer Group Show, Harris Gallery, Houston, TX
2006 June, Williams Tower group show “Less is More” curated by Sally Sprout
2006 May, Group Show, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2006 Texas Art 2006, (January) Juried competition (Juror: Jeffrey Grove, Wieland Family Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art High Art Museum, Atlanta) Williams Tower, Houston.
2005 Harris Gallery, Christmas Group Show, Houston Texas
2005 December, 2 persons show (Rouaud & Valerie Salem), Exhibit Up Gallery, Tustin California
2005 December, 3 persons show (Rouaud, Paul Hunter & Lari Gibbons), Pan American Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2005 August, Small Paintings Exhibition 2005, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach California.
2005 August, Summer Group Show, Byron Roche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2005 July, Vision 10, Byron Roche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2005 July, Harris Gallery, Houston Texas, group show.
2005 March, International Guild of Realism, group show, Pan American Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2005 Texas Art 2005, (January) Juried competition (Juror: Dominic Molon, Museum of Contemporary Arts, Chicago) Williams Tower, Houston.
2004 November, Wendt Gallery, Solo Show
2004 October, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California,”3rd Annual Women’s Show” (group)
2004 September, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California,”Modern Art Exhibition Show” (group)
2004 August, Williams Tower, Houston. “Realism Show” (group), selected by Sally Sprout
2004 August, Wendt Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, “Small Paintings Show” (group)
2004 February, Untitled, Pan American Gallery, Dallas, Texas (group)
2003 July, Harris Gallery, Houston, Texas (2 persons show)
2002 August, Karen Mitchell Frank Gallery, Dallas, Texas (2 persons show)
2001 Elliott Yeary Gallery, Aspen, Colorado (group)
1999 A Contrasting View, Elliott Yeary Gallery, Dallas, Texas (solo)
1998 Beauty Confined, Elliott Yeary Gallery, Dallas, Texas (solo)
Museum Tour
The New Reality: The Frontier of Realism in the 21st Century
Museum Tour 2008-2011 of Art by Realism Guild Members
Wichita Art Museum,Wichita, Kansas: April 27, 2008 through June 22, 2008
The Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts: July 13, 2008 through September 7, 2008
The Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts: September 28, 2008 through November 23, 2008
R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, Louisiana: December 16, 2008 through February 15, 2009
Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Kentucky: May 24 through July 16, 2009
City of Lake Charles - Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center, Lake Charles, Louisiana: August 14 through October 17, 2009
Museum of Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas: November 8, 2009 through January 3, 2010
Appleton Museum of Art Ocala, Florida: January 24 through March 21, 2010
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin: June 27, 2010 through August 22, 2010
Indian Hills Community College, Ottumwa, Iowa: September 12, 2010 through November 7, 2010
University of Mary Washington - Gari Melchers Museum, Fredericksburg, Virginia: December 4, 2010 through February 27, 2011
Education
1993 BFA in Printmaking, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Born: Strasbourg, France
Live and work: Fort Myers, Florida, USA