Gloria Bonfante

“I paint like a bird sings.”
– Claude Monet

My passion for drawing, painting, and to a small extent for sculpture has always been in me. Pencil and colors have always been my favorite games. Destiny did not lead me to develop the possibilities that my natural gifts offered me as I would have liked. However, they remained in me, and I think I cannot express myself better than with a pencil or a brush in my hand. I believe that it is not only studies and courses that make an artist, but intense passion and commitment to create something that comes from within and is realized on a canvas.

In the first part of my life, I made paintings in various techniques, mainly pencils, charcoals, and watercolors. The working of the clay and various decorative techniques in the 90s and 2000s then gave me a lot of satisfaction. Someone says that there is no house in my city that does not have a small work of mine.

In the 2010s, however, I abandoned my artistic passion for a job that I adore and fills my life, and it has become my second great passion, Africa. In fact, when I was fifty, I moved from Italy to Kenya, and the construction of a Lodge took me full of feelings, passion, and time

Now, the sad event of a global pandemic has given me a lot of worries, but also a lot of free time. While waiting for the return to a normal and full working life, I rediscovered my first old passion: painting.

I have chosen a realistic style technique, and I am passionate about details as a challenge to personal improvement. I try to get as close to naturalness and reality as possible, dedicating many hours to each of my works. Passing and repassing slight paths of color that often have transparency, sometimes with brushes even only wet in water or completely dry. Being self-taught, each work is a new experience, a personal success, and an enhancement of my natural talent.

In contact with amazing nature with a fascinating and evocative culture, I try to convey Africa I love the most.

The subject of each of my paintings is therefore chosen from photos taken in my daily life in Africa. Each work must express a moment, a feeling, a memory to which they are linked, and I will always carry in my heart. Each painting tries to express emotion and make people think or perhaps looking at things from a different point of view.

I have the presumption of wanting to excite those who look at one of my paintings, and I hope to be able to convey something that goes beyond the moment of a glance but to convey touch in the soul of those who appreciates my work.

Thanks to all who will dedicate a moment of their life to watch hours of mine.

Gloria.