About the Artist
Juliet Boustred lives on a wine farm outside Stellenbosch surrounded by the infinite beauty of the
Cape Landscape. Boustred’s focus is on the concentration of the sculptural qualities of trees. Her
paintings explore the tenacious story of survival and ancient mystery of trees, surviving in wilderness
conditions, for decades.
Boustred’s sensitivity is evident in her technique. Lines are controlled and delicate watercolour
brushwork is minimalistic, sensitive and discreet. Her paintings reveal spatial distance to allow for
thought and meditation. Each mark is made with careful consideration, clutter is eliminated, and
such absence enables the essential to be revealed.
Boustred studied in the late 80’s, at the famous Bill Ainslie Johannesburg Art Foundation where she
was encouraged to follow her own path rather than didactic dogma. In 1994, she left Johannesburg
to move to the newly acquired farm in the Cape. There, she continued her art career attending the
studios of Peter Vermaak, Cathy Milner and later, Fiona and Vivien Van der Merwe. Initially working
with oils, she slowly transferred towards monochromatic life drawing. Her innovative technique
enables her watercolour compositions and its subject matter to be uniquely contemporary