The Artist
About June
I'm June Nell — a South African oil painter based in the Cape Winelands. I've been painting for over eighteen years, and I still feel the same quiet thrill every time I pick up a brush.
My work is rooted in warmth. Warm colours, warm subjects, warm feelings. I'm drawn to the ordinary made luminous — a vase of garden roses, a path through autumn trees, the way late afternoon light turns a simple room into something sacred.
Every painting I create is an original, one-of-a-kind piece. When it finds a home, it's gone — which makes each one that much more special to me, and I hope, to you.
My Story
How it all began
I grew up in a house full of colour. My mother kept a garden that changed with every season, and my father had a habit of pointing out the light — "Look at that," he'd say, about nothing in particular, and everything at once. I think that's where it started.
I picked up oil painting in my early twenties, almost by accident. A friend invited me to a weekend workshop, and I never really left. There was something about the slowness of oil — the way it forgives you, lets you rework and reconsider — that felt like home.
For years I painted only for myself, filling canvases and stacking them in the spare room. It was my husband who eventually said, "Someone should see these." He was right. Sharing my work has been one of the great joys of my life.
Today I paint from my studio in the Cape Winelands, surrounded by vineyards and mountains. The light here is extraordinary — soft in the mornings, golden in the afternoons, and in winter, a kind of pewter grey that I find endlessly beautiful.
My palette — warm earth tones, always.
How I Work
My Process
Finding the Light
Every painting begins with light. I spend time observing — the way morning sun falls across a windowsill, the golden warmth of late afternoon on a hillside. Light is the soul of oil painting.
Mixing the Palette
I work with a warm, limited palette — titanium white, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, raw umber, and a touch of cadmium red. Keeping it simple forces me to find harmony in every colour relationship.
Building in Layers
Oil paint rewards patience. I build up thin layers over days, letting each one dry before adding the next. The depth you see in the finished work comes from this slow, deliberate process.
Knowing When to Stop
The hardest part of any painting is knowing when it's done. I've learned to stop when the painting still has breath in it — when there's something left for the viewer to discover.
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I don't paint what I see. I paint what I feel when I see it.
— June Nell