About the Author
Breathe. Love. Paint.
has meanwhile become the motto of the self-taught painter Anita Skela. But that wasn’t always the case. Anitas talent was recognized and encouraged by her teachers from an early age on. Her early works were exhibited at several collective exhibitions in Germany and in a European competition she even received an award at the age of 16, handed over to her by the mayor.
Still, she grew up believing that painting was a breadless art. For over 20 years painting therefore remained just her hobby, for which she hardly found the time and leisure due to her managerial career.
In spring 2020 during the Covid19 lockdown things changed suddenly. While people were plagued by feelings of fear and helplessness, she finally found the time and contemplation to devote herself to painting. For her, painting became a kind of emotional catalytic converter. True to the motto Breathe. Love. Paint., she devoted herself to the creative process from then on:
Breathe. Love. Paint.
has meanwhile become the motto of the self-taught painter Anita Skela. But that wasn’t always the case. Anitas talent was recognized and encouraged by her teachers from an early age on. Her early works were exhibited at several collective exhibitions in Germany and in a European competition she even received an award at the age of 16, handed over to her by the mayor.
Still, she grew up believing that painting was a breadless art. For over 20 years painting therefore remained just her hobby, for which she hardly found the time and leisure due to her managerial career.
In spring 2020 during the Covid19 lockdown things changed suddenly. While people were plagued by feelings of fear and helplessness, she finally found the time and contemplation to devote herself to painting. For her, painting became a kind of emotional catalytic converter. True to the motto Breathe. Love. Paint., she devoted herself to the creative process from then on:
“For me, every conscious breath is a gift of life that brings me to the present moment. In this state of absolute presence and connection with the creation, I forget space and time around me. My thoughts and negative emotions evaporate and I feel the positive energy and love behind what my eye sees. I try to project exactly this energy onto the canvas with the help of paint."
Her mostly colorful art works are characterized by the presence of positive emotions such as love, hope, joy and togetherness. She finds inspiration for her paintings in her immediate surroundings, regardless of whether they are everyday city scenes or picturesque landscapes. People play a secondary role in her pictures, and yet she manages to stage them in such a way that they give the painting contour and expression. Her favorite motifs include trees and forests which is probably due to her childhood in the Black Forest (Germany).
It was not until the age of 28 that she moved to her parents’ home in Croatia in the small town of Zapresic, where she is still living. Her first solo exhibition titled “Sparkles of Light in Times of the Pandemic” took place in Zapresic in the city library Ante Kovacica from June 15th to July 1st, 2020 at which 30 of her oil and acrylic paintings were exhibited, almost all of them painted during the lockdown. The paintings sold out with lightning speed and several commissioned works followed which encouraged her to continue painting. Oil on canvas is her preferred technique, although she occasionally paints with acrylic paints and tries various mixed media techniques. Her clients particularly appreciate the selection of her motifs, in which they recognize themselves, as well as the expressiveness of her paintings.
Anita Skela is a gifted autodidactic artist whose works bring life and inspiration to your environment. See for yourself!