About the Artist
Eva Belishova
Eva Belishova is a Sausalito painter whose oil paintings are best described as contemporary pointillism. Instead of placing the paint with a brush, she taps the handle of a small round brush and lets its bristles flick micro-droplets of oil paint onto the sketched composition on linen. Each tap changes the size, direction and density of the marks, creating a balance between intention and chance. It is a demanding method: a single painting takes around three months, the image slowly building through subtle shifts of light within the dotted colour. Eva was born in Albania in 1966 and grew up in the 1970s under an autocratic dictatorship, isolated from the western world, where she saw artists and writers persecuted for their free expression. In the summer of 1990 she managed to enter the grounds of the Italian embassy and was granted political asylum. Living in Italy, she became fascinated by the work of the Old Masters. A biography of Vincent Van Gogh, discovered in high school, had already set her heart on painting, and Van Gogh still holds a special place for her. After moving to the United States, she took painting classes at art school in San Francisco and continued her studies under the tutelage of Chester Arnold, the well-known West Coast painter. Her earlier fantasy landscapes, which she calls a psychic burst carrying what she feels directly onto the canvas, were shown by Calabi Gallery; over more than two decades she refined her oil technique into the pointillism she is known for today. Her subjects are chosen intuitively: water lily ponds at dusk, overflowing gardens, surreal mountains, castles, owls and butterflies. Nature, music, literature and human interaction all feed the work. Alongside the oils she makes mixed media paintings that combine digital elements with acrylic, gel mediums and confetti. Eva runs Studio Belishova in Sausalito, a working studio and intimate gallery dedicated primarily to her own paintings, which also presents mixed media, pottery and sculpture by Bay Area artists. She takes part in Marin Open Studios.
“Eva Belishova paints in contemporary pointillism: thousands of tiny droplets of oil, flicked onto linen one tap at a time, until water lilies, gardens and surreal mountains shimmer with light. About three months per painting, made in her Sausalito studio.”
The Process
Inside the Studio
The Painting Process
Every oil painting starts as a drawing on linen. Then, instead of brushing paint on, Eva loads a small round brush with oil and taps its handle, sometimes with a palette knife, so the bristles flick tiny droplets of colour onto the surface. Each tap changes the size, direction and density of the marks. Some fall exactly where she intends; others land a little differently, and she works with that balance between intention and chance. The method asks for patience and close attention, because there is a fine line between neighbouring colours and one wrong tap can cross it. Layer by layer the dots build the image, and light seems to come from inside the surface. A single painting takes around three months. Seen from across the room, a water lily pond or a garden comes into focus; up close, it dissolves into a shimmering field of points. Her subjects come intuitively, from scenes that hold a sense of wonder and a strong sense of place: the quiet of a forest, the lull after a storm, the vibrant chaos of plants. Nature, music, literature and the people around her feed what she paints. Alongside the oils, Eva makes mixed media works, combining digital components with acrylic, gel mediums and confetti on wood. Her studio and gallery in Sausalito is where both bodies of work are made and shown.
