Karin Hopkinson

I studied Fine Arts at the University of the Free State, which led me into a career in design and advertising.

Eventually, I returned to painting, reconnecting with the slower rhythm, presence, and emotional clarity that only art seems to provide.

For me, painting is a way of paying attention. Nature is my starting point – its colours, cycles, and quiet lessons but it’s the deeper truths hiding in plain sight that really draw me in.

I primarily work with oils, preferring to keep my color mixing minimal. Much like a printmaker, I build up layers, allowing each pigment to speak on its own. This layering becomes a conversation between the external world and my internal response – a trace of interpretation left visible on the canvas.

My subject matter often centres around nature, but there’s usually something deeper at play – a moment, a thought, or a question about life that compels me to paint. There’s something both eerie and comforting in how quietly things come and go, how fragile we are, and yet how much beauty persists. The things we feel and see are what surpass mortality. I try to hold that space in my work.

These days, I live in Kalk Bay with my husband, two teenagers, and two Amstaffs.