Iceland changed everything.
Traveling across this otherworldly island—from Reykjavík to Akureyri, along the Ring Road through Mývatn, Seyðisfjörður, and Vík—I painted over 50 watercolors on paper, work that would go on to define my approach to fluid acrylics. Working on paper instead of canvas was itself a revelation, one that opened a path to something entirely new.
The light in Iceland is filled with a luminosity that is unlike anywhere else—permeating, pure, ethereal—and it worked its way into every painting, every brushstroke, every artistic decision. This series marked a turning point in my work from which everything that followed evolved in a new direction.
These paintings capture the landscape in all its forms—landscapes traced along rivers of glowing cyan and azure, abstract and graceful all at once; flowerings inspired by botanicals and volcanic forms, tiny wildflowers and hidden berries emerging from beds of reindeer moss and volcanic rock in a stunning palette of greens, charcoals, siennas, ochres, and umbers; steamings born from the contrast of sizzling volcanic earth against freezing snow and ice, landscapes so alien you feel you've stepped onto another planet; the bubbling mud baths and bright aqua hot springs of Krafla; and the iconic Icelandic hestur—the small, sturdy horse that roams this island.
Iceland didn't just inspire me—it unexpectedly awakened something in me, and redefined my art—something I never could have predicted.