27/08/2026
🎨 Artist Spotlight: Elizabeth Facer 👩🎨
From Grade One, Elizabeth "Betsy" Facer remembers telling her parents that one day she would become an artist.
But life had other plans—or perhaps simply took the scenic route.
In those days, her parents didn't see art as a viable career, so studying art wasn't an option. Instead, Betsy went to Stellenbosch University, where she majored in Psychology and Philosophy. She went on to become a teacher and later a lecturer, while the dream of becoming an artist quietly remained in the background.
But it never disappeared.
Betsy's inspiration has always been rooted in the Impressionists, and today she describes her work as semi-abstract Impressionist landscapes. Her style wasn't developed through a formal art education, but through years of experimentation.
She tried everything.
Oils, watercolours, acrylics, collage and mixed media all became part of the process. Each experiment taught her something new, eventually bringing together the techniques and ideas that have shaped the work she creates today.
Acrylics are now her preferred medium, often combined with mixed media to create texture and depth.
And then there is nature.
Trees appear frequently in her work. So do mountains. But perhaps most of all, there is water. Betsy admits that she is "obsessed with water", drawn to the way nature can tell a story through light, colour, movement and atmosphere.
Her paintings are an invitation to slow down and notice.
"Look at the beauty of nature around you. And be still inside yourself."
That message is reflected in her creative process, which is considerably more involved than simply sitting down and picking up a brush.
For Betsy, preparation is an important part of the painting. Canvases and boards are primed, different grounds are applied to create specific effects, layers are allowed to dry, textures are added, and only then does the underpainting begin.
She describes the painting process itself in three stages: the mess, the ugly stage, and then making the ugly stage look pretty.
That middle stage can be challenging. Sometimes a painting isn't working, or a final decision could either transform it or ruin it. But Betsy believes you sometimes have to be brave and take the risk.
After retiring last year, she finally has something she has dreamed about for decades: the opportunity to paint full-time.
And perhaps that makes her story even more special.
Before painting became her main creative outlet, Betsy explored ceramics, specialising in fine porcelain work. She also studied silversmithing and made jewellery. Her love of ceramics even finds its way into her paintings today—she sometimes paints ceramic bowls in her still lifes, joking that although she can't make them anymore, she can certainly paint them.
Her creative side doesn't stop there. When she wants to relax, Betsy designs her own paper digitally and turns it into notebooks and other stationery. Even her downtime has a creative element.
Her artistic path may have started later than she wished, but she has certainly made up for lost time. Her work has been exhibited at various exhibitions, and she is currently communicating with two galleries interested in her work. She also has upcoming art festivals and is continuing to develop new work for Kunye.
One of her dreams is particularly ambitious: to receive a commission for an enormous artwork that could fill an entire wall.
Maybe one day she'll simply create it for herself.
If Betsy could give her younger self one piece of advice, it would be simple:
*"Start a lot earlier than I did."*
For years, being told that art wasn't a career made her doubt whether she could really do it. Eventually, she decided to stop listening to that doubt.
She sat down and painted.
And discovered that she could.
Today, with a lifetime of experiences behind her and the freedom to finally paint full-time, Betsy is making up for those years—one landscape, one experiment and one brave brushstroke at a time.
Check out our website for more info
www.kunyeartfoundation.org
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