Painting Emotions: Art, Colours & the Strength Within

For artist Carmen Haugeneder aka Atelier Athena, painting has been a part of her life since her early youth. From the beginning, creating art has meant more than simply putting colour onto a canvas. For Carmen, painting is a way of arriving – a space where emotions can find expression and personal themes can take shape.

Today, she works primarily with acrylic on large-format canvases, focusing on abstract representations of the human body. Her distinctive style combines expressive colours with an impasto technique. The vivid neon colour combinations are an essential part of her visual language. For Carmen, strong colours are not merely aesthetic: they symbolise courage, strength and perseverance.

At the heart of her work is the female body – and, more specifically, the strength of women. She is inspired by women who stand up for themselves, who have the courage to follow their own path and to embrace their individuality. This fascination with female strength also connects her work to the art of Frida Kahlo, an artist who inspires Carmen.

For Carmen, however, art is not about following a predefined formula. This is also at the heart of the workshops she creates for her Art Retreat. Rather than giving participants a single motif to reproduce, she encourages everyone to bring their own ideas to the canvas. Step by step, she accompanies each person through the creative process, offering guidance while leaving room for individual expression. For Carmen, seeing this diversity unfold is one of the most beautiful parts of teaching.

Creating art while travelling adds another dimension to this process. A new place can open up an emotional space that familiar surroundings rarely can. New landscapes, scents, people and impressions become part of the creative experience, often inspiring ideas that might never have emerged at home.

Ultimately, this is what Carmen hopes to create through her work: not simply paintings, but moments of connection with oneself. And perhaps her most meaningful work is one that stays with someone long after the retreat has ended – a painting that reminds them, every day, of their own strength.