Anna-Lena Johansson Anna-Lena Johansson started painting early in life with Grandma Tyra Eriksson, artist from Tornedalen in Sweden. Anna-Lena has several art educations in her backpack: art school and college, higher education in art therapy and pedagogic. Anna-Lena is also a trained Vedic art teacher and holds art courses for both children and adults. She is an active artist living in Gotland, Sweden. “I want to convey joy and a colorful dance, and open one’s eyes and notice that there are no boundaries. Life is like a painting and sometimes consists of many layers of paint.” Color and shape are important to Anna-Lena. She uses mainly acrylic colors, but watercolor, gouache, pastel, ink and oil are other techniques that she finds interesting. Anna-Lena underline that for her painting means a communication between the artist, the image and the viewer. It is precisely in this meeting that the art experience arises, something becomes. We all see and find different things in one picture and everything is right! For Anna-Lena making an artwork can begin with a color, sometimes a shape, a stretch or a movement. She continues to describe her art process. “ S ometimes I paint quickly, sometimes many paintings are painted on the same canvas. Layer on layer form’s structure and irregularity, which characterizes me as an artist.” Anna-Lena describes her style as both abstract and figurative. and she always want to find the feeling in an expression. Anna-Lena is inspired by textiles, people, shapes, details and above all, movement. She weaves her history, travels and meetings into painting. The absolutely most important to her is to evoke emotion in the viewer. She means that for her “The painting tells, gives power and joy of life.”