We are passionate about art, Antonia as a painter and Stephan as a photographer.
ANTONIA'S STORY
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Canadian painter Antonia Theo, is a classically trained artist, who prefers to say that she is self-taught as it has taken her years of living to develop her constantly evolving craft.
She received her academic art training in the atelier of Dimitar Rangachev, a prominent Bulgarian artist and pedagogue. With a Master’s degree in engineering and a lifetime of working in different areas of expertise she was able to achieve success and immerse herself in diverse cultures.
Her Slavic roots are visible in her canvases along with her world of feminine faces and beautiful adaptations. The freedom with which her brush strokes are used on the canvas moves the viewer to a place of affluent memories and beautiful experiences.
Noted for her still life paintings and portraits in luscious oils, with her art Antonia offers variations of emotions and colours deeply rooted in her life.
The complicated existence of women in our modern society has always inspired a certain aesthetic in me. My preferred medium has always been oil, but I don’t like to limit myself. I get inspiration from the female form and how it’s described in the medieval literature of the “Dolce Stilnovo”, between 1280 and 1310. It is the image of the so-called “Angel Woman”, from which the poets draw inspiration. However, the women that I portray in my work are not an act of seduction towards the male gender, but rather a personal reading of each woman, as such.
ARTIST STATEMENT
STEPHAN'S STORY
​Stephan was born in Germany, but spent half of his life in South Africa and Canada. His profession as a geologist, together with his interest in travelling, led him to work and visit many countries and continents. A camera was his constant companion on all his travels, deepening the relationships with the people he met and the landscapes he visited.
Photography is a constant in his life, and he remains passionate about the art form today. As a photographer, he is self-taught, learning from experience, experimentation, honest feedback, and the art of other photographers. One of his main interests is portrait photography, where he has refined his skills working with private and corporate clients over many years. He is experienced in fine art studio photography with strobes and also in an on-location outdoor environment.
A further artistic focal point of his is on landscape photography. He uses infrared-converted cameras and enjoys shooting black-and-white landscape themes at 720nm and shorter wavelengths.
Ansel Adams once said: "You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved." A good photograph is more than just the sum of exposure time, aperture, and composition. It transmits a feeling, an emotion, as a book does to its reader. When looking at the photos I took over the last 40 years, memories and emotions are triggered, and I see myself evolving in life, both as a person and photographer.