Hydrangea Bush and tomtit (2021) Painting by Ellada Saridi

I am Ella Saridi, a full-time artist living in Sweden. I work in ink painting or sumi-e technique. This is an art form that has been around for centuries in the East and is rooted in Zen Buddhism.

In the early 2000s, I came to Japan, where I spent about 10 years studying Japanese art, particularly ink painting. This style fascinated me with its expressive lines and abundance of empty space. There are not many artists who paint in this style nowadays.

 My style has evolved over the years. I do not follow classical sumi-e. Instead, I combine sumi-e with Western art to adapt the Eastern spirit for the Western viewer. My main themes are flowers, birds, and landscapes. I create "pictures of the heart" that felt like poetry.

I was born in Tbilisi (Georgia) lived in Moscow (Russia) and Leuven (Belgium). I travel a lot, and in any city, I come to a park and a botanical garden, where I photograph and sketch trees, flowers, and birds.

 I have created hundreds of paintings in my home studio, many of them custom-made.

I paint in different sizes. My customers use my larger artworks for screens, diptychs, triptychs, and sliding doors. I use authentic Japanese and Chinese materials and tools, such as Japanese rice paper, black ink, Japanese watercolor, and special long-haired brushes. I strive to show the beauty of ink shades and the visual effects of its spreading on the paper.

• Nationality: SWEDEN
• Date of birth : unknown date
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Swedish Contemporary Artists