DanaHaidau

Dana Haidau was born in 1980 in Caransebes, Romania. Having two engineers as parents, she was encouraged to acquire and develop technical skills like math and science and to ignore her creative side.
After high school, not knowing what she liked or wanted, she went to study economics at the West University in Timisoara, at her father’s advice. After one year she understood economy is not for her, so she abandoned school, left home and embarked in a journey of self-discovery.
Dana read every self-help and motivational book she could find. She got closer to nature, by hiking a lot in the mountains and forests and participating in several half marathons. In baby steps, Dana began to express her creativity by playing with crafts: jewelry making, motivational cards and photo framing.
Given a second chance to go to college, Dana chose psychology in order to better understand herself and everyone else. After five years she got her master’s degree in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. During college she took a creativity class, after which she felt the urge to explore painting and also to write poetry and short stories.
From 2008 to 2014 Dana only painted as a hobby. She chose acrylics for being fast drying, because she could not wait to get back to the painting and work on it. She liked acrylics on canvas, but the brush felt awkward in her hand and she wanted a medium as close to nature as possible. She was very happy to discover the encaustic technique. It was love at first sight.
In January 2014 Dana has her first exhibition – Emotions – abstract paintings: acrylic on canvas, encaustic on wood and poetry. Every painting was associated with a poem she had written.
In October 2015, five months after the birth of her son, Dana has her second exhibition – Apis Mellifera, abstract encaustic paintings and information from the life of the bees.
Dana lives in Caransebes, in a wooden house with her husband and their son. She prepares her own medium from the wax she gathers from her own beehives. When painting, she uses her intuition, her connection with her soul. She gets so absorbed that she doesn’t know all the steps taken from the beginning to the finished piece. All her paintings are one of a kind and cannot be recreated.
Dana’s creations are an abstract reflection of what she loves: the beauty of nature, people’s soul, the journey from dark to light, the bright colors of life. She enjoys writing a poem for each of her paintings. On the back of her works she writes powerful positive words and good wishes: health, abundance, joy, wisdom, serenity etc.