Artist Database

Lettie Gardiner was born in Heilbron, Free State and studied Fine Art at the University of Natal. Since then, she has painted continuously from a base in Johannesburg. One of her portrait paintings was accepted for the ‘Art in the City’ project in 2002. It was the head of a young boy which was enlarged and displayed on a billboard outside the Oriental Plaza. The next year there was another competition, and her submission was again accepted. Gardiner was closely associated with the Johannesburg the Art Foundation; Bill Ainslie frequently invited her to participate in exhibitions at the Foundation and the Ainslie’s were good house friends. Her paintings reflect the inspiration she draws from frequent travelling throughout the country and abroad, especially to the Netherlands.