"Fireflies" Painting

Every painting begins with curiosity. Mine begins by listening.

As it unfolds, it reveals something I hadn't noticed before, and with every layer, I discover something new—not only about the world before me, but about myself.

I'm Rina Ritzi, and this is how my paintings begin.

I don't paint what I see as much as what I experience. Sometimes that experience whispers through light and atmosphere. Sometimes it dances through colour, movement and emotion. Over time, those two conversations found their own voices in my work: Where Light Whispers and Where Colour Dances.

If one of my paintings invites you to move a little closer, perhaps it has found its companion.

Nature has always been where I learned to listen.

I've never believed that a painting should reveal everything at once. Like nature, it unfolds—layer by layer—inviting us to keep discovering.

Long before I picked up a paintbrush, I was drawn to the ever-changing moods of the sea, the quiet drama of the sky, and the endless conversations between light and colour. Those moments taught me that nothing in nature ever stands still. Every horizon changes. Every cloud tells a different story. Every season reveals something new.

I don't choose my materials for what they are. I choose them for how they listen, how they respond, and for the unexpected places they are willing to take me. My paintings often begin with flowing acrylic, allowing colour to move naturally before I return with layers of oil, deepening light, texture and atmosphere as the painting gradually reveals itself.

For twenty-five years I worked in a world of numbers and precision. Painting became the place where curiosity, intuition and possibility could finally breathe. My artistic journey has been one of curiosity, experimentation and self-discovery, allowing every painting to teach me something I hadn't seen before.

Over the years, my paintings have found homes with collectors in different parts of the world. Every new home begins another conversation, which remains one of the greatest privileges of my life as an artist.