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Elina Arbidane in the studio
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29 years old painter from Riga, Latvia 

Alla prima is my favourite technique, I usually paint still lifes in 1-2 sessions and 4-5 sessions when it comes to portraits and other bigger pieces. I consider virtuosity and confidence in painting most valuable, this approach is commonly called impressionistic. When you put a brushstroke without overthinking it. 
I enjoy "live" natural flowing forms and lines, my favourite subjects are people, plants, animals and landscapes. 

Short bio: 
First attended an art studio when I was 6 and I've been painting since then. It was a dream come true to enter the Art Academy after graduating school. But when it actually happened and I got enrolled I didn't find a place for myself there, so I quit the first year of studying. 


I applied to a Figurative Art Academy in Los Angeles and got accepted. I was planning to move to USA but got my visa refused eventually.


So I impulsively decided to go Florence, Italy. I've spent 3 years there studying painting and painting restoration, I also started my antique business. And this is when I gave up painting almost completely. 
I was so engaged developing my business, I found out how to make a living and I was so afraid to stop for a minute. In the recent years I even hid from people who first I met that I was an artist, however to myself I still considered myself a professional. I thought I was not allowed to call myself an artist as I didn’t have any new art to show. 
It changed in one day, I was at my office and I didn't feel like working, so I went to the grocery store and got some beautiful bright orange clementines and set up a still life.

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