Petra Daecke

As long as I can remember I was fascinated by the variety of shapes and colours and the changing light in Nature. Roaming the meadows with its wildflowers and the cool shady forests for hours alone all through my childhood, I grew up to develop a deep love for every plant and creature from the smallest to the largest.

I was born in Germany and have lived on the Gold Coast since 1988.Although familiar with Europe and its distinctive seasons, I love Australia’s landscapes with its colours and unique vegetation. There is beauty everywhere to be found and my aim is to bring it out in my paintings for everyone to enjoy what I see.

With a little experience in oil and watercolour painting, I started to study pastels under Louise Corke in February 2006. In September of 2007 I shared a two-week exhibition with one other artist, showing 21 pastels. I am a member the Royal Queensland Art Society and show and sell my pictures through their gallery. My paintings have been shown in various exhibitions and competitions around the Gold Coast winning several awards

I love the immediacy of pastels with their vibrant, but also subtle colour range. Painting is a joyful occupation for me and I wish others to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.

We share our beautiful planet with a host of other very beautiful creatures. Because they cannot speak, because we cannot communicate with them we usually treat them like things, like objects without feelings and needs and fears and hurts and joys. This blindness is a curse.

I paint and draw animals accurately and without enhancement as an expression of love. I choose not to use false colors or busy backgrounds because that would take us into the realm of imagination and I think we need to see animals for what they really are - glorious, beautiful expressions of the growing sentience of the universe.

To achieve this realism, I use materials and media best suited to the purpose and my skills - pencil, watercolor, and most of all, pastels. With pencil I achieve definition and contrast, whilst pastels allow more nuance and subtlety.