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Dear Collector, Art Lover, and Beauty Seeker,
My favorite subject to paint is the ocean, and to capture its fluid, transparent nature, I use an unconventional medium. Usually applied as a final coat, resin—the medium I paint with—comes in a two-part, completely transparent formula. These liquids have a honey-like viscosity that must be thoroughly mixed before use. I then add pigments to create my "paint."
Each painting session is time-limited because the chemical reaction between the two liquids causes them to harden. Once this process begins, I can no longer handle or spread the mixture as I desire. When I work with resin, I paint in layers. Imagine a series of differently tinted glass sheets stacked on top of each other. Only when I layer them do they become liquid and then solidify within 24 hours. Resin behaves similarly, and this layering technique gives my paintings a three-dimensional quality with intricate details that add richness and depth. These effects can be viewed from an aerial perspective or from a shoreline viewpoint.
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All my paintings have 1 base coat, 1 professional spray or acrylic paint layer, and several separate tinted high-quality layers of resin.
In order to tint the resin, I use Japanese dry mica pigments, inks, and professional resin dyes and pastes.
For every single layer of the painting, I have to wait 24 hours to dry and harden before proceeding with the next step: sanding.
Every layer is sanded with 4 different grits of sandpaper and air-pressure cleaned and sterilized with alcohol.
I do not use brushes or palette knives; my painting tools are a bit unconventional.
My brushes are my hands, blow torches, heat guns, spatulas, gravity, cold and warm air, and fire.
The inspiration is always nature's force, balance, perfection in purpose and beauty, it can be a place I travelled or sailed to or just the breeze or a feeling while floating on our boat docked in a Turkish marina or just on anchor nearby a Greek taverna on a remote, tiny island in the Mediterranean or Aegean Sea. It can be this artist as a little girl reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" trying to escape her cold, tiny, grey communist bedroom by daydreaming and travelling to exotic, warm places with white or gold sand beaches and teal, clear water oceans and seas.
Whatever sparks the moment — a place, a breeze, a feeling — my intention is always the same:
I want YOU to feel warmth, peace, and calm.
I want the turquoise blues and soft whites to fill your eyes and soul with beauty.
I want you to feel the sun on your skin, the warm water lapping at your feet.
If you love the ocean — if you’ve ever found joy in walking barefoot on a breezy beach — my art is meant for you.
May it bring you a little closer to that salty, sun-soaked dream.
With an open heart,
Ana Hefco