Picture "At Dusk", framed

Gruss always concentrates on depicting the impression of a moment, not on the realistic documentation. Just like a fleeting memory, the objects become reflective surfaces that reflect the light and create a somewhat diffuse atmosphere within the scene. In order to create this pictorial impression, Gruss increasingly dissolves the details and contours of her motifs into spaces of colour and light or simply just blurs the scenery entirely into a colourful aura. "I want to conjure up the light in my paintings, I want poetic, dramatic, enchanting things to emerge in my pictures. I apply the paint layer by layer and thus let the light into my paintings," she says.

Gruss seeks out the moments when she can capture the power and effect of light in the most diverse places: In street scenes, with musicians on stages, at car and motorbike races, on the beach and by the sea, in landscapes, in views of buildings or close-ups of flowers. She often has a personal connection to the situations and places she paints, such as in her cycle of paintings in Iceland and Norway.

Gruss works with oil, acrylic and watercolour on canvas. Depending on the characteristics of the light situation, she decides which of these techniques she will use. From time to time, she also incorporates scriptural elements and collages into her works.

The qualified art therapist and art teacher, born in 1970, has been working as a freelance artist since completing her studies. In addition to numerous exhibitions, she has worked in animated film and theatre character designs for various television and film productions, as a museum educator and as a teacher in painting at various institutions. She also offers painting trips and workshops.