Annette Seedorf

Annette Seedorf | Agulhas

You often describe your art as a way to “illuminate people’s lives.” How do you understand light, both personally and artistically?

Light is my quiet guiding star, dwelling within my paintings. It flows through clear, pure colors, its intent mirrored in deliberate reflections that shimmer like mirages, fleeting illusions that lend grace and glow to fairytale realms. Compositional openness arises from the courage to leave white space untouched, allowing the gaze to rest, to breathe, to enter. The unpainted becomes a threshold, a silent room in which the viewer may linger. Psychologically, light becomes the feeling that stirs when one truly looks, the inner spark of perception, the soul’s own breath, the luminous pulse of meaning.

Annette Seedorf | Blue Zebra

Your brushwork feels both spontaneous and rhythmic — almost like a dance. How does this sense of movement emerge in your creative process?

Movement begins with an inner impulse, a quiet rhythm rising from within. I immerse myself in the moment that seeks expression, finding a dynamic balance between tension and serenity until the brush begins to move of its own accord. My strokes are at once spontaneous and rhythmic, a dialogue between intuition and form. Holding the brush like a crayon allows me to draw as I paint. Since childhood, I have cultivated this language of movement, a choreography of color and line that speaks of vitality and joy.

Color seems to play a central and emotional role in your paintings. How do you approach the choice of palette for each work?

Every artist carries within them a personal spectrum, a repertoire of hues gathered through years of experience. From this inner palette, I select those tones that best convey the essence of the motif or the emotion of a moment. Some colors seem destined to illuminate life; they form the foundation of my compositions. Around them, I weave other shades like spices in a delicate recipe, enhancing flavor, depth and harmony. Thus, each painting develops its own timbre, its singular atmosphere of light and mood.

Annette Seedorf | Impression Of Carousel Horse

You studied in France and were inspired by the Impressionists. What influence do they still have on your artistic language today?

Impressionism and Pointillism remain essential to my artistic voice, both as a vocabulary of light and as an attitude of seeing. Though my paintings are created in the studio, they still carry that luminous weightlessness born of direct observation. Reality is always my starting point, yet it intertwines with imagination and reverie. Magical moments, as in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tale The Golden Pot, are also hidden in some paintings and delight the discerning viewer.

Annette Seedorf | Little Elephant Nala Wonderland

Your family’s artistic heritage reaches back several generations. How does this lineage shape your own creative identity?

It is fascinating to observe the resonances across generations: the still lifes, the landscapes, the devotion to nature. Yet each artist perceives through a different lens; each hand tells its own story. Where my forebears sought precision and faithful depiction, I blend these inherited themes with imagination and fantasy, aiming to evoke delight that uplifting sensation, as though one were sitting beneath a circus tent or riding a carousel. My motivation is to offer moments of joy to the world. This is ambitious, as it is easier to spark joy than to move someone to tears. Therefore, my paintings celebrate the quiet splendor of everyday life, a flower stall, a handmade treasure, the simple beauty that surrounds us and deserves to be seen.

Many of your recent works were created in bright, sunlit places around the world. How does travel influence your artistic expression?

My journeys weave themselves into my work like colored threads in a tapestry. Alongside imagined landscapes that lead the viewer into realms of reverie, Africa holds a special resonance for me: a vital rhythm at the heart of my art. From the golden tones of the Maghreb to the vivid radiance of South Africa, the continent’s play of light continues to inspire me. A living symphony that echoes through my canvases, mingling with memory and imagination to create something timeless.

Annette Seedorf | Oriental Tea Time

If you could summarize your artistic philosophy in one sentence, what would it be?

My art seeks to bestow moments of lightness and happiness upon the world.