Anastasia Gklava

"Chasing the Morning Light", oil and gold leaf painting of cherry blossom tree

2024

Anastasia Gklava is an expert at applying gold leaf. Her oil painting technique is fresh and honest. Her artwork will brighten and add energy to any space. Gklava was born in 1966, Greece. She is a figurative artist largely working in oil on canvas and wood, with gold leaf and various other materials. She studied under the academician Manuela Armada at Fine Art Academy in Madrid. In 2014–16, 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 colored 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 the location where the colors 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.”