Carla Raadsveld – born in Rotterdam, living in Ireland.
Educated at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Art, scholarships in Italy and South Africa.

As an internationally-selling painter well known in the “old” economy, I am trying to adjust to today's "digital" economy.

My work has changed over the years, but long-time clients tell me that whatever I paint, they always recognise my hand. I prep my canvases with a skin and then paint them black. The contour lines are not drawn or painted, they are the unpainted black background. I paint whites over black, a time-consuming technique.

The painting itself is very important to me: the build-up and composition on a canvas – smoothly painted, with a rougher brushstroke, or both. I like to combine both textures in one canvas. A gallery called the theme of my recent work “contentment with a smile”.

In the last decade, many graphic art techniques like silkscreen, etching, stone litho, etc. have disappeared from the mainstream market, replaced by giclee prints. I now strive to bridge the gap between giclee prints and originals with small mixed media multiples on canvas, half-printed, half-painted. There is nothing like the colour of real paint. I aim – as always – to keep improving.