Wilna Eloff was born in Mokopane (formerly known as Potgietersrus) in the Limpopo province of South Africa. She moved to Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, in August 2009.   Her desire to acquire a profound knowledge of botany at an early stage of her life was passionately fostered by her father, who farmed extensively in the Limpopo region of South Africa.

By 1998 Wilna decided to devote her time to botanical paintings, despite the fact that she had no formal ‘art’ training. In the interim she has attended both botanical art and master classes with Jenny Phillips.

With her focussed medium being watercolour, she mainly paints subjects depicting the indigenous trees and plants of the African sub-Continent.

Wilna has exhibited with the “Botanical Art Society” (Kirstenbosch), The Watercolour Association of South Africa, and was a finalist at the Sasol New Signature Exhibition in 2003. She was awarded a Bronze Medal in 2004, Gold Medal in 2006 and a Gold Medal in 2008 at the internationally acclaimed Kirstenbosch Botanical Art Exhibitions.

Her work is sold internationally, and she accepts commissions for both private and corporate collectors. More recently she has completed illustrations for the book “Wild Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland” by Douglas McMurtry.

Wilna received further acknowledgement, both locally and internationally by participating in, and donating works to raise funds for the annual “Wildland Art for Conservation Trust” exhibition, which is held in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Wilna’s paintings are extremely intimate. The desire to hone in on a specific aspect of her subject is a microcosm of  “intimate” expression representing a layer of ‘the whole’. It is a little world about which people are slowly educating themselves. There is such awareness these days of our environment that people are now beginning to focus on the smaller plants and their surroundings. There is an extraordinary complexity within the simplicity of Wilna’s botanical work, which compels the viewer to look again.