If I told you my life story — one that began with blonde hair and blue eyes, traveled through war paints smeared across my face, from fire red to dawn white, from the turquoise of pure waters to the burning orange of molten lava —
If I told you my entire story from the beginning, you wouldn’t believe that I managed to make peace within myself.
And there’s no doubt that the brushstrokes had a major role in my journey from the depths to the heights.
If I told you my life story from the very start — and I told you that the heroine of the story became the best mother in the world, a woman with great love in her life, who knows how to love deeply herself, a person full of joy, pure joy in this messy world, someone who devours life with every breath and cherishes every single moment — you would say it makes no sense.
But this is a story with a heroine.
And she wins in the end.
In 2019, I closed the association for victims of sexual assault that I had run for five years, after 15 years of teaching English and educating high school students. Burned out inside from the immense pain I exposed myself to through my work, I searched for healing for my soul, peace for my heart — something to reignite the fire within me that had almost completely faded.
Not long after, I painted my first piece, without knowing why. It felt as though it burst out of me, as if it had always been there, waiting for me to reach that hidden place deep inside and discover it again. I had encountered it briefly as a little girl, but since then, I hadn’t picked up a brush, convinced my whole life that “I have two left hands.”
I definitely didn’t know back then that today I would be painting my dreams, my visions, my fears and hopes, the darkness and the light — every hidden corner suddenly set free. And I certainly didn’t imagine that my livelihood would come from painting life’s energy, tailored personally for private clients or interior designers.
I create abstract and surreal art, inspired by moments from my life — fleeting moments that never turned into vivid films in my mind, a mind that forgets everything. These are the moments I bring back to life, again and again, to connect with the emotions within me — emotions that live in all of us.
My art speaks of the dissonance between worlds, of the internal struggles we all carry, and above all, of the points of light and acceptance. A victory dance, if you will.
I’m here to paint your dance.
Yours,
Shani
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© Shani Shtalryd, 2021, All rights reserved.
Website built by Ariel Hillel
