Story of the PARADISE BIRDS | Intuitive Painting
Discover the story behind the PARADISE BIRDS – a colorful contemporary art collection born from intuitive painting and a spontaneous moment in Vienna that unexpectedly unfolded all the way to the Côte d’Azur, Times Square and beyond.
It started in the moment when I didn't try to create anything.
The first PARADISE BIRD was born in Vienna – completely by accident. I was painting a large acrylic artwork on the floor. As always, I had smaller sheets of paper around me where I could wipe the excess paint from my brushes.
I love these seemingly insignificant moments. Because when I wipe my brushes, there is nothing to achieve. Nothing to create. Nothing to get right. My mind becomes quiet. My hand simply moves.
This time, instead of wiping the remaining yellow paint onto paper, I wiped it onto a clean wooden palette. No intention. No idea. Just a movement.
Later that evening, while tidying up, I looked at the palette again. And suddenly I saw a shape that reminded me of... a bird! I looked at this little creature and thought: “Hello. Welcome. You will stay.”
I probably added the eye at that point – although, to be honest, I don't remember exactly anymore. What I do remember is the feeling. I loved the vibrant yellow, the spontaneous traces of paint and the beautiful structure of the wood shining through underneath.
And looking at this little creature made me smile. It felt joyful. Free. Unapologetically itself. The first PARADISE BIRD had appeared. And perhaps that is exactly what fascinated me most: It appeared when I wasn't trying to create anything at all.
What happens when we stop trying to control?
This experience captures what fascinates me so much about intuitive art. When I stop controlling the outcome, something shifts.
My rational mind becomes quieter and I enter a different creative space – a space of intuition, connection and possibilities. Ideas, shapes and impulses can emerge that I could never have planned consciously.
For me, it feels like opening a door into a much larger field. You may call it intuition. Life Force. The universe. Collective consciousness. Or simply that magical space we cannot fully explain.
I believe we all have access to it – not only when we paint, but also when we create, make decisions or imagine our future. When we allow ourselves to listen to what wants to emerge instead of immediately trying to control it.
We can connect to it when we create, make decisions or imagine our future – when we allow ourselves to listen to what wants to emerge instead of immediately trying to control it.
The first PARADISE BIRD became a beautiful reminder of exactly that: Sometimes something unexpected appears when we become quiet enough to notice it.
And then one bird became seven
Some time later, I included my yellow PARADISE BIRD in a New Year's Eve post on LinkedIn. One of my clients saw it, loved it and asked me: “Could I have this bird as an acrylic block?” And my answer was: “Yes.”
I had no idea at that moment where this simple yes would lead. Later, while staying in Nice on the Côte d'Azur, I began working on the idea. I was in an apartment overlooking Nice, Cap Ferrat and the Mediterranean when I digitized the original bird and started exploring how I could transform it into an art object.
And then something unexpected happened again. While experimenting with the bird digitally, suddenly more birds appeared on my screen. Different colors. Different expressions. Different energies. Not one. Seven.
I immediately fell in love with them. And in that moment, the PARADISE BIRDS family was born. Then life added one of those little moments I love. While I was sitting there, working on my new bird family, a group of green parrots flew past my window.
I had to smile. I love synchronicities like this. For me, they are flow moments – those little winks from life that seem to say: Keep going. You're on the right track. So I did.
Finding their true colors
Creating the seven birds was only the beginning. Now I wanted to find exactly the right colors for each of them. And that turned into quite an adventure. Colors on a screen don't necessarily look the same once they are printed on paper, acrylic or metal. So there was only one way for me to find out.
Test. Experiment. Look. Feel. And test again.
I created ten, sometimes fifteen different shades for each color. Then came the test prints. Around 100 of them. Pink next to pink. Blue next to blue. Turquoise next to turquoise.
To someone else, the differences might have seemed tiny. To me, they weren't. I kept comparing until I looked at a color and felt: Yes. That's you.
That's a big part of my creative process. I experiment. I play. I follow what attracts me. I change things. And when something doesn't feel quite right yet, I keep going. Until it clicks.
How big and how far can these birds fly?
And then, another unexpected door opened. The PARADISE BIRDS started to fly.
What began with a spontaneous moment on a wooden palette in Vienna gradually moved beyond my studio – into cities, curated art spaces and completely new environments.
URBAN PRESENCE — CITIES AS LIVING CANVASES
Through ExpoMetro, the first big journey took the PARADISE BIRDS into the heart of cities – onto giant billboards, digital screens and urban spaces surrounded by architecture, movement and everyday life.
Suddenly, the birds appeared in the Art Tunnel at Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona, on a giant digital screen at Times Square in New York, along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, in the city centers of Milan and Rome, and as part of the world's largest interactive art exhibition at Amsterdam Central Station.
I loved seeing the cities themselves become part of the artwork – and people encounter the PARADISE BIRDS unexpectedly in the middle of their everyday lives. Perhaps that's exactly where their message belongs: out in the world.
Celebrate life. Be brave. Be free. Be yourself. Dare to show your colors.
CURATED ART SPACES — DIALOGUE & EXCHANGE
Their journey continued into curated art spaces.
Through my collaboration with Multi Art Gallery in Monaco, my art travelled to exhibitions and events at the Grimaldi Forum and ESPACE 22 in Monaco, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and the Bay of Saint-Tropez.
In these more intimate settings, the art became an invitation to stop, look, feel and enter into dialogue – with the PARADISE BIRDS, with others and perhaps even with something within ourselves.
Because art can speak without words.
LIFESTYLE & INTERDISCIPLINARY WORLDS
And then the PARADISE BIRDS began entering completely different worlds.
In Dubai, my art became part of the Avant-Garde Concept Store, was presented in connection with the UAE Art Forum at Accor Hotels & Residencies, and received the Artventurous Paramount Hotel Art Award.
I love seeing art move beyond galleries and meet architecture, design, hospitality, fashion, business and everyday life– changing the atmosphere of a place and creating moments of unexpected connection and bring a different energy into spaces where we might not expect to encounter art at all.
And eventually, the PARADISE BIRDS began arriving in the most personal spaces of all: people's homes.
Today, through my online art store, they can continue their journey to wherever in the world someone feels drawn to them.
Sometimes I look back at that first yellow bird on a wooden palette in Vienna and smile.
And yet, what began as a spontaneous trace of leftover paint eventually grew into a family of seven PARADISE BIRDS – traveling from Vienna to the Côte d’Azur, onto Times Square and into cities, art spaces and homes around the world.
And perhaps that is exactly what the PARADISE BIRDS have been showing me all along:
We don't always need to know where something will lead before we begin.
Sometimes we simply follow an impulse.
Say yes to an unexpected opportunity.
Take the next step.
And allow life to unfold.
Because when we stay open to what appears along the way, something that starts very small can suddenly grow wings.
That's exactly what happened to my PARADISE BIRDS.
Let the spirit of the PARADISE BIRDS fly into your space
The PARADISE BIRDS are more than colorful contemporary art.
Born from intuition and an unexpected moment, they carry the spirit of their own journey – a little reminder to follow what draws you, stay open to the unexpected, dare to show your colors and remember who you truly are.
Available as Art Prints, Acrylic Art Design, Pocket Art™ and large-scale art, they invite their vibrant energy, joy and sense of freedom into your space.
Seven birds. Seven colors. Seven unique energies.
