Paintings for Ants

After a decade of Paintings for Ants, miniaturist Lorraine Loots is setting her sights on bigger things.

-  CHRISTI NORTIER

For the past 10 years, Cape Town artist Lorraine Loots has been creating 'Paintings for Ants' almost daily.

It started as a personal challenge to paint every day to combat the drone of a boring 9-5 job, but her miniature watercolour artworks of animals, everyday objects, landscapes and famous landmarks quickly gained a loyal international following. Soon, $365 Paintings for Ants' turned into a full-time project.

The days of a rigid schedule may be long gone, but the playful sentimentality still runs deep through Lorraine's subsequent three collections: '365 Postcards for Ants', $100 Paintings for Ants' and 'Travelling Ants-all completed between 2013 and 2021.

She pressed pause on painting (giant) marbles to give us an insight into her creative process, what motivates her to keep picking up a paintbrush, and which painting in her nearly 1000-strong collection is her favourite.

How did it come to be that you started painting miniatures? I've always loved the tactile quality of handmade art. I studied graphic design, and in our first year we did very hands-on sketch work. I loved that, and I thrived.

But then we moved to computers, and I kept trying to bring it back to hand-drawn work. It was such a crushing course that afterwards I didn't want to have anything to do with art and design.

Years later, I quit my job as a personal assistant. I thought, 'Now what?". I decided to sign up for a course called 'Business Acumen for Artists', which was designed to take you through figuring out who you are and what you want to do.

I've always loved music, singing, photography, painting and cooking - but how was I supposed to choose one thing? I was forced to put a stake in the ground. We were challenged to choose one hobby, do it for a year, and see how it goes.