About Color and Light

 

                                                                   'Light Aura' by Bettina Madini

"In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light." - Hans Hofmann

I have, beginning with my first brushstroke, looked at ways to bring light into places and spaces with my paintings. How to evoke the sensation of light, glow and luminescence? Considering myself extremely lucky, I have encountered and studied with great masters of color in Europe and the United States of America.

Studying Kandinski's color theory of warm and cold colors and the sense of closeness or distance that they are evoking. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's explorations of colors in nature and how they are perceived by the human eye.

Being enchanted by the visual delights of color and its thousands of hues and tones in nature, I have been immersing myself into abstract florals, trees and creatures magical and well known from the forest lands around me.

The 'colorlessness' of black has entered my paintings only once, in my very first painting in 1998 which I painted in my then-home in Luxembourg. Looking back at it, it was a crossroads of choice where I managed to free my being from the blackness of a world of impossibility that had tried (in vain) to take me over.

Through art, I opened a gateway to being me. Not just for me, but for everyone who is willing to receive it, be it and choose to be who they truly are.

'Light Aura' is from the year 2000, and I brought it with me across the Atlantic, in a big crate. I hope you enjoy the radiant light that it emanates, with many layers of blue, purple, green and pure white.

Much gratitude,
Bettina

 

 

                                                                    'Phoenix for a New World' by Bettina Madini

“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” ~ Linda Hogan

What if we were Stewards of the Earth?
And what would this mean?

Mankind has been trained into being the beneficiaries of the earth, of nature, on a one-way street of taking what nature provides.

If we were Stewards of the Earth, we would also be trustees. We would take care and make sure that nature thrives. We would harvest with care and benevolence. We would be grateful for nature. We would consider what our choices create for the future, for the next seven generations.

If and when we function from THAT space, what will be given to us in res-ponse, freely and joyfully, will be what we call miracles.


Prints of 'Phoenix for a New World' are available on canvas or paper at bettinamadini.art

                                                           'Gardens of Gold', by Bettina Madini

 

Everything has a secret soul, which is silent more often than it speaks.” ~ Wassily Kandinsky

It is that silence of nature that inspires me. 

 

Have you noticed? The sounds of wind, winged and four-legged creatures, water or dry leaves swirling and rustling in the soft air. A whispered earth invitation to simply BE.

Breathe deeply. Go outside. And make space for your body and being. The earth will take you on a journey of color and sound. And isn't she so creative, our beautiful planet, with all kinds of creatures big and small, tall trees, tiny ferns and seeds deeply hidden in their cocoon?

Then, shift your vision. A fallen tree will turn into a host for life. A thick layer of ice on a lake will turn into a miracle of ingenious patterns and shades of greys, blues and purples. Dry flower stalks turn into space-holders for spring's renewed cycle. 

 

And so as we change our vision, we change. We become a host for life, a miracle of ingenious patterns and a space-holder for spring.

Much gratitude,
Bettina

P.S. If you'd like to browse through my paintings and find inspiration, visit https://www.bettinamadini.art/ and https://www.bettinamadini.com/