Deniz Altug

Deniz Altug is a self-taught abstract artist based in Toronto, Canada. She started to pursue her lifelong passion for art after 19 years of corporate life. Since then she has been enjoying to let her creative spark take over and her paintings can be found in private collections in Canada, USA, Europe, and Brazil. Prior to her art journey, Deniz’s education and professional life ranged from a degree in computer science, to completing an MBA, and having a successful career on the management side of Information Technology.

Deniz’s paintings are primarily acrylic on canvas and consist of vivid colors, intuitively applied in layers with a sense of movement and transparency, a balance of energy and calm, a contrast between bold and spacious, resulting in abstract artwork that many describe as uplifting and inspirational, and yet also peaceful.

” While I love to collect visual inspiration from everyday beauty, nature (often the sea or florals), and contemporary design, on a personal level and in my work, I am heavily inspired by personal growth, challenging the “norms”, and the passion for an authentic life lived with intent (and I believe in a never-ending journey of growth). My paintings transpire into being abstract expressions of empowering concepts such as personal strength, freedom, love, self-belief, discovery, evolution, and the cyclic nature between the obstacles and joys of life. Each of my paintings brings life, inspiration, and motivation into my own world and I love to pass that feeling on to others as well. My goal is to share a sense of uplifting energy, liveliness, and empowering inspiration with the viewers and make that feeling resonate with their own life experiences or aspirations. ”

​In her process, Deniz starts with an imagination and intent of color palette and a high-level idea of composition, but then lets her intuition take over. Her main tools are wide brushes and wide painting spatulas. She adds fluid acrylic colors, often mixed with acrylic mediums, on the canvas and continues building transparent layers until she feels the painting is complete. Deniz loves painting abstract since it contains a surprise element, as she never knows exactly what the end result will be, and this inspires her to let go and be more intuitive in her personal life as well and be open to life’s possibilities.

“ When the piece is completed I observe it and contemplate the emotions it evokes in me. I typically connect that perceived feeling to current (or past) events or thoughts I encountered, things I learned, emotional concepts I value, or aspirations I have for the future. And when I see a concept fit in terms of how I see the painting, I name it as such. I love this final step of the process as each painting helps me reflect on the evolution and beauty of life and allows me to continue build a story of things I have learned or care about. ”