Branko Dimitrov was born in a small village, 2000m above sea-level, in the southern area of the former Yugoslavia.

He started drawing and painting at the age of seven - “animals, mostly” - and, he says, his style evolved as he grew older and has matured in the time that he has spent in South Africa.

His inspiration for the dramatic skies, depicted in his work, is the memory of the sky above his village of birth. “Because of the high altitude, the sky is more vivid, the clouds more starkly etched.” When he emigrated to South Africa, he immediately noticed that the sky over Pretoria shares the same vividness.

He has been painting professionally his entire adult life and has the ability to skillfully capture the eye and imagination of his audience. He says he has never had any formal training in art. In many respects, he opposes the concept.