Biography

Jeanne Silver

Jeanne was born in 1947, in Warmbad, Namibia and was brought up in Outjo. Her Dad decided to move to South Africa, and they went to live in Trompsburg, a very small town in the Free State. It was here that the principal of her school, Mr. Pieterse made her aware of her artistic talent. He encouraged her to develop her drawing abilities and enrolled some of them at the local art show.

She was pleasantly surprised to receive prices for her work and the seed was sown that started growing in her heart. She knew that she wanted to be an artist. Circumstances beyond her reach destroyed the opportunity for her to go Art school.

In 1974 after severe illness, she realized that she would never be happy if she doesn’t pursue arts and she started art class with Dr Phil Breedt in Brakpan. She had her first exhibition with Phil Breed in Spring. In 1981 she had the opportunity to join Charles Goddard’s art school in Krugersdorp. She had amazing tutors and Claire Gavronsky laid a sound foundation in her life as an artist with different medium and techniques. The school enrolled the students in different art shows, and she received prices for her Charcoal Protea still live  and at the Johannesburg art show she received a price for a piece which she called ‘The veiled ladies of Iran.

 Throughout Silver life arts stayed dominant and she never gave up pursuing her dreams and never stop studying art and art history.

After a few years away from the arts she returned to it in 2000 and moved to Hammanskraal where she had a little art stall with the art community in Mandela village. There she worked and exhibited her art to tourists from all over the globe. She had the opportunity to teach many students art while there. One very outstanding student was Frank Ndau, who wanted to paint people and was delighted when he successfully painted his first portrait.

Jeanne was challenged by the community to live in a shack to understand the pain of the past, and out of this experience, she built Freedom Walls Art Gallery, a tourist attraction in Kekana Gardens as part of the Dinokeng Big Five Game Reserve tourist initiative. With the Fiva Socker Gold cup in 2010, thousands of visitors visited Freedom Walls Art Gallery to see the paintings of the struggle and other famous people on the walls painted by Jeanne. She also painted the faces of all the Presidents from 1994 to 2022. While living at Freedom walls, she made her interpretation of French Provincial cupboards from the 18th century and painted copies of old Renaissance paintings on them. She was selling her work at Irene market, and it was through the owner of the market that she was introduced to Kyknet TV, and they made a documentary of her as an artist, living and working at Freedom Walls Art Gallery.

At this time, several newspapers and Magazines wrote about her life as an artist. Jeanne and her students also participated in the Save a Rhino Community project organised by Charles Pretorius from Kwalata and the South African Air Force. She had the opportunity to give art therapy to the Patients of the Psychiatric clinic at Kekana gardens and was richly rewarded to see the amazing effects the arts had on them and how it changed their lives for the better.

 Moving to Port Elizabeth had a great impact on her life. While living there, Joy Magazines wrote an article about her life as an artist and her life at Freedom Walls. Silver had an exhibition with other artists and visited art markets with her paintings and products. COVID put it all very much on hold, but she is back and will not give up on the arts.   At this stage of her life, she feels a freedom of expression and is working towards a series of paintings that she’d like to call her signature series and she aims to have an exhibition in the future.