Nicole van Rooyen has no formal training in art, just an overwhelming love for it.

Her father was an architect and lecturer with a particular fondness for the Italian Renaissance.

Her mother is an artist and art teacher whose love for colour has significantly shaped Nicole’s life.

At school she was always sketching something… normally her shoes, hands or feet.

She would later go on to win multiple art competitions during her school years.

She never really considered studying art as it seemed such an integral part of her life already.

Instead she decided to follow her passion for dancing and qualified as a Ballet teacher.

She started designing greeting cards a few years later and has been supplying retail stores with her beautiful cards ever since.

Only recently has she picked up her pencils and brushes again and is dusting off her skills to explore fine arts with renewed gusto.

She loves creating everything from large abstract paintings to detailed watercolours and sketches.

Now she finally feels content, happy to continue her explorations into motherhood and beyond and hopefully answer the one critical question of how to get maximum joy out of 24 short hours.

She lives in Cape Town with the man of her dreams and their beautiful daughter