Meet the Artist: Charlotte Herczfeld, Sweden

Charlotte Herczfeld, Sweden, has painted solely with pastels for only two years. She loves the immediacy and brilliant colours of the medium, and is devoted to take the pastel renaissance the world experiences to Europe, where it once begun. She is one of the founders of the Pastel Guild of Europe, and currently serves as its Chair.

You chose a ballerina to represent the theme “Freedom”, could you say a bit more about your thoughts behind this choice?

Unconsciously, I’m sure I was inspired by writing the article on Degas. Consciously, I gave it some deep thought, as there are so many things that may represent freedom. I was drawn to the sense, the physical experience, of freedom. The ballerina seemingly floating on air is my try to depict the heady exuberant feeling. At the same time, that freedom is very hard won, through the greatest of disciplines—ballerinas are definitely not ‘dainty’, but well muscled elite athletes. I really like the paradox, as many deep truths lies in paradoxes, that skill and control gives freedom. It is the same for a realist painter. Only after many years of rigorous training do you get the skills needed – the freedom – for making the very difficult seem effortless. It is about life, really, and how we train ourselves to be humans, which is no mean feat.

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Read the whole interview by clicking here.  Page 13.