Francois is a South African born artist & qualified and experienced art teacher, living & working in Germany and South Africa. In many ways the arts influenced and marked his life from a very early age. He attended a strong academic and sport-focused school – with no art classes at the time. Although he found this quite frustrating, the creative process, especially drawing, became a passion and a big interest in his teenage years – also following a long-running, weekly TV series called, Quest for Romanticism. This lead to Francois finding solace in drawing and even as a teenager he communicated his experiences and understanding of life in graphics and sculptures. “It was like finding meaning and my calling in life and … Like bringing order to chaos, soul wise”, he explains. Today, Francois mostly paints in oil, but also acrylic; sculpts with ceramic and plasticine clay and plaster; casts in bronze or resin and draws in many different media. Even as a teenager he communicated his experiences and understanding of life in graphics and sculptures. François paints mostly in oil, but also acrylic, sculpts with ceramic and plasticine clay, plaster, etc, casts in bronze or resin, and draws in many different media. Much of his earlier art influences come from the Romanticism and Symbolism movements. He says, “The Creator’s breath-taking sacred geometry and organic shapes/forms found in nature inspires me very much. I cannot deny that the Art Nouveau/Jugendstil period has also been an influential element in my work.” He describes his animal-themed work as “Songs” and the human-themed artwork (e.g. his “Performers” series) as “Shouts”. Francois exhibits his artwork at various well-known galleries in South Africa including the Everard Read Gallery (Cape Town), Grande Provence Gallery (Franschhoek), Ebony Curated Gallery (Franschhoek) and the Cape Gallery (Cape Town) and also in Europe. He also takes on commission work in various art mediums, 2D and 3D, and can be contacted for info and/or commissions. -https://viljoen-art.com/en/about/