Aberdeen boasts the tallest church steeple in South Africa, a post office that should have been a law court elsewhere, and at one time the site of the biggest private zoo in the country – that’s the Karoo village of Aberdeen. Also a place where it is said nothing ever goes on but the passage of time. Aberdeen was established on a farm first called ‘Brakkefontein’ (‘brackish water’), that was owned by Jan and Betsy Vorster. The Dutch Reformed Church bought Brakkefontein in 1855 to build a church and a school and the town was founded the next year.

The village of Aberdeen lies within sight of the Camdeboo Mountains, 50km south of Graaff-Reinet in the Great Karoo. This small Eastern Cape town is filled with Victorian style buildings, wide streets and a relaxed pace of life. It has become a haven for artists, ‘down-sizers’ and a lively creative group. And it also has charming oddness.

Donna Mckellar:

Donna is a South African fine artist living and painting in Cape Town. She is well known for her large scale South African landscapes.

She often paints enigmatic and peaceful paintings of the Karoo landscape and its remote buildings. Both of which include large amounts of fine detail and are very moving in nature. In addition, Donna’s works are centered on the idea of urban decay. The loss of beauty and strength, all relate to themes of the common man’s day to day life. Donna is also stirred by various aspects of her own life and insights as a painter. Therefore, she combines light and shadow, building and landscape, which are, first of all, recalled from her memory or feelings. A large range of Donna’s artworks can be viewed at The Studio Art Gallery, which is found at Imhoff Farm, Kommetjie, Cape Town.

Artist Prints: 

Many of Donna’s artworks are offered as fine art digital prints, which have been skilfully photographed and printed on large format inkjet printers. These prints are limited edition and numbered bottom left and signed bottom right. They are printed on the highest quality Van Gogh cotton canvas. The printing process has employed fade resistant, HP Vivera archival inks, which boast a 100+ year fade-proof promise.

These artist prints are offered in varying sizes. Also the prints on canvas can be provided stretched over a wooden frame or rolled in a core for easy shipping. Lastly, each canvas print is treated with a high quality scratch resistant matt art sealant.