Art Philosophy
Painting is the journey of training the subconscious to express itself through the transformation of dreams and ideas into shapes, colors, and compositions. You know when and where you start a painting, but then the creative process takes over and you just go along with it, guided by the flow of ideas, feelings, and emotions. And in the end, you just hope that the viewer will catch a glimpse of the emotional charge of each painting, which transforms it into art. Art is not what a painter intends to do. The painter only wants to express him or herself. Art is the effect captured by the viewer. If a painting speaks to even one person, then it becomes art.
Bio
I started to paint later in life, at the age of thirty. As a member of a family of opera singers and music teachers, I was encouraged to follow the path of classical music. To this day I love music, especially opera, and I highly enjoy playing the piano, but when I was about to pursue it as a career, I realized it did not offer me the freedom to express myself the way I wanted and somehow it felt like it had too many boundaries.
An extensive study of art history and experimentation with different styles of painting provided a strong artistic education. I also benefited from mentorships and friendships with the painters Jan Albu and Radu Serban. Other influences include Isaac Levitan, Vasily Perov, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Paul Klee, Marc Chagall.
I look at the art of painting as I look at music: the more diverse the repertoire is, the more complex the art is and its ways of expression. I don’t think an artist can gain complexity and evolve without learning from the past masters, and without exploring all the painting styles. The best part about painting is that at some point it can even surprise you with combinations of elements or styles that can bring about a new vision, a new trend, a new expression, a new approach, a new you. It all comes from exploring movements and styles beyond your comfort zone.
Painting has a long history of amazing masters that offer us sometimes more than we can comprehend. I see this art as an ocean of knowledge so deep that it would take a hundred lives to just begin to understand it. The freedom of expression in any art comes only with deep understanding of the technique, history, styles, mediums, etc.
Inspiration
I always compare painting with music. In music inspiration comes from the piece you play, in which the musical phrases lead you on a roller coaster of feelings and emotions, and sometimes vivid imagery that you convey to the public through your interpretation. But painting? It starts with a blank canvas. You are the composer here and the viewers are the interpreters. So what do I do? I steal my inspiration from music. Someone already composed the emotional landscape, so I just keep going with it. There is no image in this world that cannot be matched with the right music.
For example, an evening waterscape is definitely a Chopin kind of image, a Nocturne that plays along in the sunset light. Soft, subdued colors, tones, the water is still, and you can feel the quietude of nature in a peaceful evening. Some running horses could be inspired by Rachmaninoff. Just listen to one of his pieces and you will hear the sound of their hooves hitting the ground. Realistic painting is more inspired by classical composers, like Mozart. There is a steadiness in the movements of the brush that is reflected by this type of music. Beethoven will inspire a very contrasting approach with violent colors and uneven brush strokes. My nature paintings are most of the time inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov. The music is so descriptive and replicates the nature sounds so well, that it makes you feel present in the middle of a forest, or on a lake. Vivaldi is another source of inspiration for painting. Even if he is a pre-classical composer, he has the contrasts and the stamina that you find in Beethoven’s music, therefore his pieces inspire a painterly style with undefined edges, a painting executed at high speed that follows the rapid cascades of string notes.
Nature is always the best source of inspiration and my love for nature makes my paintings more realistic. I just enjoy spending so much time on them because it feels sometimes like spending time with the animal or in the middle of the scenery. Another source of inspiration is interior design with all its wonderful and diverse styles, like Art Deco or Bauhaus. Poetry is a magical source of inspiration. Some poems are so visual that you can make an entire series based on a few verses. Inspiration also comes from daily situations or encounters with interesting people. Anything in the end can bring up ideas and images that can be painted on a canvas.
There are moments when I find no immediate inspiration in anything, and my solution is to listen to a composer that I never listened to before, and the impact of the new music will just bring to my mind a lot of new ideas and images. Usually it’s a contemporary composer whose dissonances excite and revolt my imagination, stimulating it to approach a new style, composition or subject. It’s exactly what I wanted from the beginning: no boundaries and freedom of expression.
Accomplishments
2021:
1st Prize at Art Show International Gallery Open Competition
4th place at All Planet Earth Art Competition at Contemporary Art Gallery Online
Honorable Mention at the “Colors Art Competition” at Grey Cube Gallery
3 Honorable Mentions at Art Show International Gallery Open Competition
2 Honorable Mentions at the “Nature” Juried Art Exhibition at Art Room Gallery online
Honorable Mention at the “Colours” International Juried Show at Gallery Ring
Honorable Mention at the “Botanicals” International Juried Exhibition at Grey Cube Gallery
Special Recognition Award at the 11th “Animals” Art Exhibition at Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery
Special Recognition Award at the "555" Art Exhibition at Light Space and Time Online Art Gallery
Special Recognition Award at the 11th “Botanicals” Art Exhibition at Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery
Finalist Award at Art Show International Gallery Open Competition
Solo Exhibition at Art Show International Gallery
Participation at the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society "Associate Online Show"
Participation at the online “Yellow” exhibition at Colors of Humanity Art Gallery
Participation at the 6th Annual "Waterscapes" Art Exhibition at Fusion Art Gallery
Participation at the "Spring" Art Exhibition at HelvetArt Gallery
Participation at the “Painterly” exhibition at Las Laguna Art Gallery
Participation at the "Textures and Patterns" Art Exhibition at Art Room Gallery online
Participation at the National Oil & Acrylic Painter Society "Associate Member Online Exhibition 2021"
September 2021 – Featured in Art Walk Magazine