Medieval architecture

Due to my education profile and research in the field of Medieval Studies, the architecture of this period came as a ready source of inspiration in my paintings. I have created both small and large pieces inspired by wonderfully crooked and irregular medieval buildings, from my home province of Transylvania and elsewhere (Budapest for example where I completed my studies). Some of these acrylic paintings are available on my Etsy shop, depicting medieval buildings from Brasov (town hall, guild house) and Budapest (urban house in Buda). These original works combine acrylic and graphic pencil, in my typical "messy-wiped" style, and come in various sizes, from miniatures to average pieces.

Small acrylic on cardboard painting (9.5 x 10 cm) depicting the town hall of Brasov (Kronstadt, in Transylvania)

 

Guild hall in the old center of Brasov (size unframed: 9.5 x 11 cm)

Medieval house on Buda Hill (dimensions without frame: 29 x 26.5 cm)

 

Geometric flowers

I've been reprimanded for not creating paintings with flowers. I know this is the universal subject for common artwork, but I find it extremely challenging. Depicting flowers in art is treacherous and the result often kitschy - rendering them geometrically is one way of avoiding the issue. Here are some of my favorite examples, a bit of research actually for the next art project, collected in another Etsy treasury.

Jewelry boxes

Last weekend at the studio was dedicated to another small project - making jewelry boxes. Using cardboard oval-shaped boxes I glued stripe linocuts I had, of the "city tracks in the mud" series, then painted the visible sides with saffron yellow. The edge of the lid was painting lighter, for a bit of contrast, and another linocut fragment was applied to the center of the lid. After drying I varnished the boxes for extra protection against wearing. Here they are:

Ana-Maria Gruia - original linocut jewelry box

Ana-Maria Gruia - original linocut jewelry box

Ana-Maria Gruia - original linocut jewelry box

Ana-Maria Gruia - original art jewelry boxes

Ana-Maria Gruia - original linocut jewelry box

 For more works and applied art projects feel free to visit my Etsy shop and/or my website.

A bit of yellow

By autumn, the yellow-saffron glow of summer days has a hint of nostalgia. I tried to get that feeling back through a series of small paintings. The style is, as usual, a mix: acrylic layers after layers, patina, and drawing pencil. Dried colors are duller than wet ones, so the finish consists of a thick layer of acrylic varnish. The subject is a pretext for color and amusing details: laundry left to dry in front of a wall, including towels, shirts, and underwear.

 

I made it! "The medieval city"

This is just one part of the series from the exhibition I am preparing for the opening of the Urban Cultural Center in Cluj-Napoca. It is mixed technique: linocut, collage, acrylic  on canvas.
There will also be the individual linocuts (to show the units of the larger works) and an installation (in the making).


"town square"

"spiritual patrons of the city"

"sacra conversatione"

"la strada"

"square with fountain"

"procession"

"holy women by the fountain"

"the city of Mathias Corvinus"