Eyes say everything

Free, rough brushstrokes and a sensitive, sincere story. A unique harmony of opposites, quite accurately defining the art of Eva Mili.

"I want my paintings to be bright, transparent and evoking positive emotions. Pure black is excluded from my work process - instead I opt for a palette of lighter tones and brighter colours. I paint oil on canvas.

The wet-on-wet technique adds a lot of spontaneity and drive to my work. When using this technique, the main layer of the painting must be finished before the first strokes of paint begins to dry. When the painting is wet, I can easily add in new colours, change shapes, as well as blend objects and their edges. My work process is very dynamic, sometimes going not quite as I had planned. I really like the fact that the end result is always unique - heavily charged with my thoughts and emotions at the time. A limited timeframe for creating one painting forces me to work accurately, make as few mistakes as possible, and fully invest myself into my work.

My painting ouvre is quite wide, including still life, animalism and figurative art. However, portrait is my favourite. I enjoy seeing how the rough strokes of a pallet knife (mastichin) magically transform into living people and animals, with their own personalities and moods.

My path as a creator was very winding. I studied at an art school, but later chose to pursue science. After graduating from Kaunas University of Technology and receiving my bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science, I worked as a programmer. Only after I became a mother did I feel the need to create again, thus I worked as a professional photographer for 10 years. The urge to paint came to me later in my life. I learned how to paint on my own by studying the works of foreign painting masters. Reading the English books of the best teachers of realism and impressionism sparked my interest in the principles of work of the great masters. This way I have mastered the wet-on-wet technique, which is still rarely used in Lithuania."