It is difficult to say what inspires me for my inspiration lies in a myriad of things; in the lilac of jacaranda blossoms, in the red African earth after the rain falls, in the wind caressing its hands over the swaying tips of a field of barley, in the icy lakes in the Alps, in the intricate pattern of a quail’s feather, in the rolling of hills and mountains, in the infinite sceneries of the Karoo.
In all of these, it is the intensity and contrast of the colours on Mother Nature’s palette that moves me to inspiration.
Maiden, Mother & Crone
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Morgause Fonteleve
I was raised in a family where the appreciation of classical art and music was the order of the day. My parents painted pictures with words, and instilled in us a great love and reverence for beauty. In Europe exquisite art is available on every block of the city, in the architecture, in frescos of every church, in the galleries and museums.
What inspired me to paint for the first time was seeing the paintings of Antonio Ligabue (“il buon selvaggio”) the good and wild artist of Italian painting from the Bassa Padana. I was touched when I watched the biography of this lonesome and deeply disturbed man, and travelled from Milano to Gualtieri to visit the place where he had lived, painted and died. A sort of pilgrimage which left me feeling compelled to pick up the paints and brushes and express what to the spoken word was impossible.
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Through painting I attempted to understand and feel close to one of the greatest “primitivists” of modern art and tragic expressionists. Alone I walked the muddy banks of the River Po, embraced by the fog and mists rising from its icy waters, ate at the small trattoria at the station of Gualtieri, and breathed in the air which he had once exhaled.
I paint to express my love for shape and colour in a very naïve way. Through the innocent brushstrokes I try to honour the divine feminine with the very same love and candour with which Antonio painted.
The Youthful God
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