Håkan Gidebratt is a Swedish artist born in 1962 and residing outside of Karlstad in Värmland County, Sweden. After studying Fine Art and Graphic Design at Nyckelvikskolan and Forsberg School in Stockholm, he furthered his education by taking Fine arts classes at Gerlesborg School of Fine Art in Bohuslän.

If Scandinavia were a fantasy land where the world of dreams came to mingle with reality, Håkan’s paintings would undoubtedly be a portal to said world. It is on a vast, wild and at the same time peaceful nature that the viewer is invited to lay his eyes. A place allowing you to rest, reflect upon and enjoy the calmness this Scandinavian atmosphere circulates. Each brushstroke depicting in a dreamlike way the richness and depth of the forests, fjords, lakes, fields and mountains which so well define his native country.

Despite the uncontrollable nature of watercolor, the artist does not let himself be intimidated by it when expressing on large formats the immensity of the world surrounding the inhabitants of the Great North. A world that he depicts with inspiration from the changing seasons and the polar light that falls on the lake in front of his studio.

“I remain fascinated by the possibilities of watercolor in terms of nuance and contrast. It goes from the dark and powerful to sublime and soft light that gives hope. Sometimes watercolors seem to have a mind of their own – things don’t always turn out how you’d imagined. This technique fits well with my painting because my images are somewhere between dream and reality.”