Nature lends a healing hand to Solveig's art

Nature has long been a source of inspiration for Solveig. Through her childhood years, her scholarship at the National Art School in East Sydney and right up to her present work, Solveig has continually looked to the Mother Nature for subject matter.

"Nature is the greatest artist of them all," Solveig says. "She is my muse."

Living in the beautiful surrounds of the Byron Shire for the past 30 years, Solveig has allowed her special relationship with nature to shape her style, resulting in a unique technique, which can best be described as graphic impressionism.

Illustrative in nature, Solveig's style is reduced to colour and shape, but through colour placement and contrast, a dynamic effect is introduced into each painting.

"Your eyes can't just sit there and be still," Solveig says. "They get drawn from colour to colour creating an overall sense of 'aliveness' - like nature."

"This is why I rarely use black. I find it deadens my images and doesn't allow that energy to course through my work."

Solveig, 56, has also been a healer for much of her life and finds the energetic quality of her work has a healing effect on herself and others.

"When I use painting as an externalisation of my own state of mind, I find that I draw on archetypal imagery, symbols and colours to illustrate my own psychology," Solveig says.

"In doing so, I achieve a healing state, which promotes personal growth and distances me from fear, confusion and childhood programming."

In others, Solveig's work manifests itself as art that is healing to live with. Each piece is a vista on nature. People disappear into her work, emerging some time later feeling calm, rested and relaxed.

Solveig is yet to find a ceiling to her unique graphic impressionist style. The sky's the limit, she knows when a piece is finished and isn't tempted to overwork it, and there is never any part of her work she is unhappy with.

In this way, Solveig is very productive and creates large-scale pieces (1200mm x 900mm) on a bi-monthly basis.

Unafraid to move with the times, Solveig has embraced the latest technology and has made all her works available in a canvas reproduction format, and as acrylic on board originals.

Solveig latest works are Zen Witch, Grass Tree and Boundary.