Alena Carvalho

Using a mix of acrylic paints and inks, Alena uses a variety of both conventional and unconventional tools

to express different ideas – enjoying the process of taking mundane urban elements and capturing their beauty in

vibrant and atmospheric compositions. She draws her inspiration from walks in European cities, particularly London,

come rain or shine – photographing the fleeting moments of a scene and its atmosphere as it changes with the

seasons and time of day. Alena loves photography and painting equally stating that, for her, the two are

inseparable. She says “I love depicting city scenes that combine architecture and iconic

buildings with the life that goes on around them, the traffic and the passers-by and how these scenes change

with varying light and weather. I am fascinated by the drama and life that rain and evening lights bring into the

picture as much as I love the stillness and serenity of snow. I am compelled to paint the long shadows printed on

the ground by the afternoon sun or the morning fog as it softens the edges and desaturates colours.

Double-deckers and black cabs of London, red trams and terracotta roofs of Prague, white cobbles and yellow

trams of Lisbon, majestic domes and pillars of Rome, Paris bikes and cafés, canals of Venice – undoubtedly cliché,

but that’s where my mind travels when I pick up a brush!”