| NELL SAMARATUNGE * "Passion of Art" |
| Something About Nell Samaratunge The Artist Nilmini Samaratunge (some know her as ‘Nell’) is from Kandy, Sri Lanka. In Sinhala, her mother language, Nilmini means Blue Diamond. Like blue diamonds, which are very rare in nature, so too are Nilmini’s paintings. Nilmini came to the United States in 1997shortly after she was married in Sri Lanka. When her husband’s eyes began to roam, he abandoned her and Nilmini found herself in a foreign country, unable to speak English, and having very few contacts or friends to turn to. So what did she do? With the help of her closest friends, she pulled herself up by her bootstraps, learned the language, and worked at multiple jobs to put herself through college. Her painting provided her some peace through these difficult years. With only a little guidance from her mother at an early age, Nilmini is for the most part a self-taught artist. In her final semester at Northeastern Illinois University, while earning her BA in Business Administration, Nilmini took one course with the renowned professor and artist Adam Belt. While at Northeastern, it became apparent that Nilmini’s works were something special. Whether painting an abstract, still life, or portrait, her paintings come to life. The observer becomes one with the painting because of the spirit that radiates from the piece itself. As rare as a blue diamond, Nilmini has the gift of creating a painting starting in 2D space, that she then transforms into a 3D universe and makes it come alive. In essence her paintings live and breathe rather than simply hang on a wall. She is able to do this with her special tromp l’oeil style (derived from French, tromp l’oeil means to deceive the eye). Chateau This is best depicted in her “Chateau” piece, a painting so realistic that the viewer may be tempted to pick a grape off the vine. Or perhaps, by observing the painting, a heartfelt emotion may be triggered – an emotion of longing to return to that special place, that special French Country Inn, where he or she may have shared grapes with a loved one. How does she do it? Athletes are sometimes measured by their hand-eye coordination. Nilmini’s hand-eye coordination, as applied to her painting, goes much deeper. You might say she has a hand-eye-feeling or spirit coordination. Unlike most other Artists, Nilmini does not do any sketching prior to painting. She is one with her brush. Nilmini’s explanation of her gift is that her hand simply traces what her eye sees. But her gift goes much deeper because, not only does she see the piece she is working on, but she feels it too and is able to capture that feeling through her brush stroke techniques and her use of color, perspective, and lighting. |
| CONTACT:passionofart@adacartianu.com |