About

Ebba Balestra di Mottola, née Heuman, was born in southern Sweden in 1979. At the age of 19, she moved to Florence to study art. She attended Charles H Cecil studios, a classical art school specialized in working from life and portraiture. The students are taught the traditional techniques of drawing and oil painting as practiced by the old masters, using the sight-size technique.

After having finished the studies she graduated with a BA in history of art in Sweden. She then continued painting and travelling for work and inspiration. Having lived and worked in many countries throughout Europe, she speaks fluent Swedish, English, German, Italian and French.

Portraiture has always fascinated her and for several years she worked continuously on portrait commissions. Lately, although portraits remain an important part of her work, focus has shifted somewhat towards other types of not commissioned works, landscapes, interiors and less classical portraits.

Her paintings are often inspired by a memory or a dream. The paintings are based on live observations and memory. She also uses photographs taken by herself or a close acquaintance as a reference for the paintings, and sometimes images taken from films or other media.