As long as I can remember I loved painting and nature. My love of painting took me to Italy. Not by chance, I have ended up here - the cradle of Western art and the country with the most art treasures in the world.

But the beauty of the “Bel Paese ” (the beautiful country) is not only in museums. I am deeply inspired by Italy’s great cities such as Rome and Florence, as well as the wilder Mediterranean beauty of Sicily. I love the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside and the Alpine mountains.

In fact, I found out quickly that painting outdoors (en plein air) is the perfect combination of my two passions : art and nature. My hope is that the viewer of my paintings will feel the delight and happiness I felt painting them.

On a more philosophical note, I believe we all have an instinct, and a deep craving, for beauty. No one needs to tell us what it is - we know. I thus firmly reject much contemporary and modern art which says that art can be anything (yes even a banana taped to the wall) as long as it is not beautiful. I think it is high time that people can see art that makes them feel fuller, deeply respected, perhaps inspired.

I am thus committed to learning, practicing and teaching traditional painting. I believe we came close to losing this great Western art form in the last century but luckily many people, including myself, are now recuperating what we can and moving forward….and finding great joy in doing so.