Elisir D’amore, Colorful Fuchsia Pink Flower, Oil on Canvas with Gold Background, 2019

"Elisir d’Amore" is a stunning, bright, minimal style painting with a tropical fuchsia flower in the centre of a rich golden background. Artist Anastasia Gklava is an expert at applying gold leaf. Her oil painting technique is fresh feeling and honest. Her artwork will brighten and add energy to any space. ANASTASIA GKLAVA b. 1966, Greece Anastasia Gklava is a figurative artist largely working in oil on canvas and wood, with gold leaf and various other materials. Born in Athens, Greece, Gklava studied under the academician Manuela Armada, at Fine Art Academy in Madrid. In 2014-2016 she was selected to represent and exhibit Greek landscapes at the Eleftherios Venizelos National Airport of Athens. What intrigues her most, and is the central theme of Gklava’s work, is nature and in particular trees. Capturing what she calls "the secret life of trees", her brightly coloured subjects are surrounded by gold, which gives a dramatic and pristine effect. Traditionally used in Byzantine art, gold conveys a sacred, warm and divine feeling. Her simple and straightforward compositions draw our attention to the miracle of nature and it’s elegance. Gklava paints her iconic trees in olive groves and orchards near her summer house in Asproneri, Greece. She resists the temptation of photographs and loves painting mostly outside, on location where the colours are more accurate and true, transferring this beauty to the viewer. “Beauty is like silence”, Gklava says, “One had better watch it than talk about it, or it’s lost.”