Every summer, I go on holiday to Lazise; one of the oldest fortified towns, situated on Lake Garda. That is also where I started diving. With flippers, an old diving mask and a shovel, in the old port of Lazise to the bottom, looking for everything lost through the centuries. Also in the Summer of 2014. On my daily round in the old harbour I suddenly saw an artist painting the harbour there. I complimented him on his beautiful painting and we struck up a conversation. He was interested in what I was doing underwater. In the days that followed, I admired his work every day and proudly showed him my underwater finds.
One day, I showed him my Bob Ross paintings. He asked me to sit with him. He wanted to give me painting lessons. From that moment on, the friendship between Alex and me started. Since 2017, I can call him Maestro, a sign that I am officially his pupil. In that year I went to Italy to paint with him for a longer period of time. From this experience came my first painting of an armoured howitzer; a representation from the Defence Exercise Bison Drawsko in Poland.
Meanwhile, Alex moved to southern Italy last year and entrusted me with painting the village of Lazise. Here in porto nuovo Lazise I was able to sell my first paintings in the summer of 2020. With the proceeds, I founded Gallery Lazise. In this way, we artists remain connected.
