My newsletter just dropped today! And it’s a good’un. (Sure hope you took the time to sign up like I suggested). • Two weeks today is the Public Opening of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Awards. • In 10 days I fly to London for the Awards event on the 23rd. • In five days we celebrate Youth Day, and I have a really fun and meaningful way you can help me honour those who fought so hard for their right to education 50 years ago. • June is packed. Join me for the ride. You know what to do. Add your deets to get onto my… (It rhymes with “sailing p*ssed”… which is never a good idea 😂) Or pop me a comment and I’ll send you the link to past issues. So you can do your homework before you dive in. 🙂

M O N D A Y M E M O I really don’t like to bang on about it but this platform really isn’t the best for staying in the loop with everything that’s going on in my studio (which is a LOT this month). And definitely not if you want to: • be the first to see my original works online • get the chance to be the first to buy my original work • enjoy exclusive entries to my very occasional competitions • get access to all the behind the scene content • follow my journey to London in two weeks time, and get first access to the Awards ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery • find out how my work got picked (and about the piece I submitted) for the Awards Swipe to find the call to action (as if you need a clue😏). And check my story for that shortcut 🔗 Art by @roskochart 1. “Girl reading a letter” (available via @gallery_glencarlou ) 2. “Man reading a paper” (private commission)

L A S T C H A N C E ! It’s June already? Where did the first half of the year go? I’ve been working hard at getting my work out there and under your noses. But, just like life itself, the shows don’t go on forever. 🤓 In the second slide, I’ve written up the dates that all my current exhibitions are CLOSING. You’re welcome. NB: Two of the shows close tomorrow! Including the incredibly popular @salon104.art “Le Papier” show that’s happening right now, in the heart of Cape Town. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on original art, all in the same format (unframed, on A4 paper) for the ridiculously affordable price of R1,800 (that’s £85 for my UK fans). Best bit? For every sale, we get to donate R300 to a local art charity @imbali_wc I’ll be on shift this afternoon 3.30 - 7.30pm and tomorrow (our last day!) from 9.30 - 1.30pm. Pop me a DM if you are coming! I’m sharing some of my brand new work in this carousel but be warned: as originals, once they are gone they are GONE! It’s a first come, first served event. If you can’t get to see it in person, but want to have the opportunity to get your mitts on some of my more affordable works, you know what to do: get “grind” up to my “sailing mist” IYKYK 😉

THREE WEEKS TODAY. The public opening @nationalportraitgallery Just a little memo. More to myself than anyone else. Trying to prep for my trip. Don’t want to leave you behind. Please join me for the journey! (Works best if you fill in the form in the link and then save my email to your contacts. So my messages don’t end up in your spam folder …or not reach you at all 🫣)

REIMA (2020) In celebration of children and youth. It’s YOUTH month here in South Africa. And so, for this month, I’m hoping to cast a light not only on my work that is inspired by - or features - both children and young people but also on my work outside of the studio. (So, it won’t all be about “The Age of Adolescence”, my painting that’s going to be hanging at the @nationalportraitgallery I promise)😜 Some of you, but not many, know that I spend a lot of my spare time working in my local community. (Ha ha! “Spare time?” I know. I don’t have spare time. I steal it from my artistic practice. Good job I’ve got an understanding boss☺️). I’ve always enjoyed working alongside young people. Humans on the cusp of adulthood, curious beings, testing boundaries, ready to spread their wings and take a leap of faith. Obviously, it’s been an amazing gift to be a parent of three. And, through lots of curveballs that life has thrown my way, I’ve also been able to work with many other young people in various ways. Sometimes it’s not exactly what most people would do with their spare time. It might not even sound like fun. Often it’s heavy work. Messy, even. But either way: It’s an enormous privilege. If you stick around / are one of my subscribers, you’ll be hearing a fair bit more about this over the course of the month. Follow along at @shoo.taboo if you don’t already.

So, the secret is out! I have blown away by the response from everyone here since I got to share the BIG NEWS of having my work accepted into the HSFK Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Thank you to each and every one of our who took the time to comment on my last post. I am so touched! And I’ve also had a lot of questions… …not least how I managed to keep this a secret for three months! So here is the story of how I made my submission to the @nationalportraitgallery and what it felt like throughout the process. Exhilarating to say the least! If you want to hear more, and follow me on my journey to London next month for the Awards ceremony, please do yourself a favour and subscribe to my newsletter. The link is up there in my bio.

This is possibly the biggest secret I’ve had to keep for what feels the longest time. (And anyone here who knows me well knows just how hard that can be when I get excited about something!) So I am utterly thrilled to (finally!) share this news with you: I have had my painting - The Age of Adolescence - selected for this year’s HSFK Portrait Award 2026 at The National Portrait Gallery, London. This is an ‘off the charts’ surreal moment for me, in more ways than one. I mean, I first went to the NPG when I was a child. And every trip to London since, I’ve tried to squeeze in a trip to this place - my favourite gallery in London. It’s like “people gazing”… but with permission! I can spend hours in there, alone - but not alone - as if in conversation with the people in the portraits. And every time I go, something special happens. Every time you spend time gazing into the face of another person, in some way, you learn something about yourself too. The Portrait Award too is an amazing event. It’s like the Oscars of the Portrait Painters world (for those who don’t know or might be unfamiliar with the name of the current sponsor). I must be honest and admit I never even dreamt that I might one day have my own work be selected to hang in this iconic gallery. Since its inception, the long-standing international competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and has been seen by over 6 million people. It’s just nuts to think my work is now going to be one of them!! But there you go. It is. And I am… utterly gobsmacked. And won’t probably really truly believe it until I’m standing there next to my painting in June. The exhibition runs from 25th June until 7th October and after that will be touring in the UK. I’ll share more information about the painting, the inspiration behind it, the origin of the title, the process, the thrill of entering the competition … and lots more. Please do feel free to drop me a comment below if you want to be added to my teeny tiny mailing list to make sure you don’t miss out on joining me on the journey to my homeland, and the wonderful space that is the National Portrait Gallery in London ❤️

G O L D I N T H E A I R @salon104.art is presenting our exclusive annual Le Papier exhibition. Original A4 paper works - unframed - from 14 artists - deck the walls of a private apartment. For 3 days only. In the words of fellow exhibitor @ninaholmesart “the mood is buoyant and bustly. There is everything from figurative to abstract, landscape to still life, profound to playful” Book your free ticket now. The opening night is already sold out! 🔗 in my stories and NEWS highlights