Summer Refreshment, Circa 2024

Simona Sedlakova  

I have been painting since I was a child. It was 45 years ago and more. With the passage of time and my coming of age, painting went into the background and I forgot about it, other interests came, later the family. I remembered him in the moments when my daughter was little, sometimes we spent creative moments together and that was about it.

I once heard a saying somewhere, "When you came into this world, each one of us got something predestined in life." I asked myself what it could be. I looked for it for a long time, I couldn't figure it out, until once. 8 years ago, due to health problems, I began to devote myself fully to yoga, first as a student and later as a teacher. With her, I began to get to know myself, I began to perceive her essence, the perception of myself through experiences, signals that I had overlooked until then. There I began to realize who and what I am.

After one experiential painting, I "found" myself again, my soul felt that even here, "I am at home", in its essence, the inner child that loved to paint so much - with joy, lightness and brightened eyes - spoke up in me. I felt an incredible energy in me that had to get out. It is the feeling when you know that you are well, so you want to maintain this state. And so I started painting.

I have no art school, I am self-taught, but I like to experiment.

My favorite techniques are acrylic painting - mostly abstract work and ancient encaustic. There are many things about this technique that fascinate me. First of all, I was attracted by something different, "non-traditional" than "ordinary", a picture painted with such a rare material as beeswax mixed with Damara. I really like its pleasant smell, rich and dense colors that blend into each other during creation. This creates a beautiful range of colors and shades that never cease to amuse and fascinate me.

I take painting as a tool, it is a (old) new, natural energy for me, in essence and set by the flow of life that goes through me. You simply feel that you are resting within yourself.

Through myself, I capture the messages of nature, smells, feelings, colors, it is a feeling of freedom to express myself in this form, because there are no barriers in it.

And that fulfills me, because the body, mind and soul are connected vessels that form one whole - ourselves and living with ease.