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15th of August 2023, Reykjavík

Dear observator,

The idea of writing a text to the person who will buy my painting came to me recently with a lot of enthusiasm. Because if you have been touched by the result, I guess you might appreciate hearing about what adventure gave birth to this final picture. In fact, you’re not just buying an object, you are bringing with you a piece of my life, the conclusion of active creation hours but also a journey made of inspiration and doubts, long breaks, rebirth and excitement.

Sometimes I’m actively looking for an idea by going to museums and leafing through children’s book, but for this picture, the idea came spontaneously. This painting was almost a necessity. It was one of these days of December, when the low sun, (if only we had a chance to see it), leaves our Nordic island before 4 pm. I was sitting in the plane, leaving Iceland to join my family in France for Christmas. These moments, when I take the plane by myself to link the two countries where I have a home, use to be rich in emotions, dreamy and inspiring. My seat was luckily by the window, but I was in the wrong side to admire the sunset. By the time we took off and the sun was throwing its last firework, I realised that this side of the plane had nothing to envy to the other. I could say goodbye to the mountain Esja that faces Reykjavík and follow the last snowy pieces of land getting drown in the marriage of sky and ocean. We crossed these light blankets of clouds, inviting to a dreamland. The full moon floated on a gradation of pink to blue sheets. I stayed staring at the window til my neck got painful, completely absorbed. The first stars were suddenly showing up, still blinking before the darkness got proper. As the shades were getting darker, I was leaving my thoughts to emerge, a land full of memories and Christmas excitement. I had already got my first Christmas gift, and this was a strong inspiration for painting. I knew I would not have the time and material to make it in France, but as soon as I would get back home, I would know exactly what to start with. I took a terrible picture with my mobile. The moon was not more than a small white dot and the pink shades were sadly destroyed but it didn’t matter. It was just in order to get a track of my commitment.

After a couple of weeks, I was back to my easel in a corner of my living room. I rolled up my sleeves and attacked the canvas with a large brush. I have a lot of paintings with gradations of sky colours. I like to spend time brushing on and on, trying to make the colours’ meeting as smooth as possible. It’s a failed attempt to rival mother nature’s daily artwork.

Second, I made a white circle. Here again, I like to avoid geometric tools and try to make it as perfect as possible. I added layers of nacred and silver paint, creating curves and irregularity on the moon’s surface. The moon is very present in my pictures, and I make sure to always give it a different style. And by the way, before I started to really give time to explore my creativity, the full moon didn’t mean much to me other than potential insomnias. But since I really try to explore and develop my artistic skills, I noticed that the days preceding the full moon, my inspiration is growing. Ideas are raining, sometimes making me overwhelmed. Art isn’t my first work to bring money, I still live from my employee job with kids in an elementary school. This way, I experience the lack of time and energy to honour all these project ideas. But I keep hope, the time is coming. If you are reading this letter, it means I am getting closer to it.

I gave the moon two clouds to support its presence. I was wondering which colour they should be, once the sun is gone, so I just mixed the previous colours I had used on my palette. Then, I painted the peninsula and islands. They don’t represent a place in particular but are very emblematic of Icelandic costs during the winter.

For the last step, I used some dry glitter glued on glitter gel. I like to make stars this way because the painting becomes alive and interactive. It reacts to the room’s light, and according to your observation spot, different stars will light on.

True story : The day I started redacting this letter, I was having my daily after-dinner walk by the ocean, and my attention got cought by a lady who was walking in front of me. I was totally in love with her suit : she was wearing a long light blue trench-coat with turquoise tighs and a light pink hat. After she stopped for taking a picture of the view, she turned her head towards me and suddunly expressed “Wow I love the way you’re dressed !”. I gave the compliment back and she approached me to shake my hand. A pink speaker was held on her jacket’s belt and offering some music. “Oh you have the most beautiful eyes !”, she said. And I turned back the compliment, “Thank you, I wanna be a pastel rainbow !”. We both had blue eyes but hers was a bit darker and cercled by make up.