Icelandic Artist
Bertha Kvaran
The Illusion of Detail
Being able to transform ideas and memories into art on canvas is truly amazing.
The harsh Icelandic landscape, nature, and weather, are where I get my inspiration.
Being a farmer for many years and working with Icelandic horses even longer also highly influences my work which is expressive and raw, often with color abstraction when I paint animals but more subtle when I paint landscapes.
Charcoal, oils, and or acrylics are my main mediums and large brushes, spatulas, and palette knives are my tools.
I like my work to be an illusion of detail rather than actual detail.
My recent work is mostly large paintings of horses. They range from rather abstract to rather normal, yet with my expressive marks and raw style.
Going with the flow as I apply the paint on the canvas is my favorite way of painting—I like to follow the paint pattern and bring out what I see.
let's paint!
As a young girl, I used to draw horses, some random landscape and animals all the time, doodle in my schoolbooks, and daydream about anything else than the classroom or doing my chores.
I believe this drawing has somehow nested into my brain memory, because now, years later, I hate drawing, don’t sketch, just go freehand with a brush or palette knife when I start a new painting as long as it is landscape or animals.
