a conversation with Artist Britt Boutros-Ghali
In an intimate conversation between two women whose lives are intertwined by art, Britt, the renowned artist celebrated for her evocative use of color and form, speaks with her daughter, Michelle Edelman of TRAFFICARTS, who has dedicated her career to supporting and promoting artists and creative talent. Today, they come together not just as family, but as collaborators in the art world, ready to delve into their shared passion, the inspirations behind Britt's work, and the unique dynamic that bridges their professional and personal lives. A dialogue rich with insight, reflection, and the deep connection that only a mother and daughter can share.
Britt in her garden in Agamy, Egypt, 2024 Photo: Hassan Ghonim © 2024
Michelle E: I’m so excited to have this conversation with you. I’m thinking of the questions that people often want to ask and know about you and your work. It always starts with, what inspires you?
Britt BG: I think it’s the search for the perfect painting. As an action painter I work energetically, and once the painting is finished, I think, wow, this is beautiful. But then I’ll come back to it later and think how I can I do it better. This is what keeps driving me. It is an energy or maybe an affliction to keep reaching further. I inspire myself.
ME: What is the favorite part of your day?
BBG: At night in my studio when it’s absolutely quiet and everything is still.
ME: What do you avoid?
BBG: I avoid conflict.
ME: What can you not live without?
BBG: So many things. Being around people who make me feel loved and comfortable. Friends and Family.
ME: When was your first creative moment?
BBG: When I was about 9 or 10 years old in school, I did a caricature of my teacher. And then all my friends wanted me to do theirs. I was always drawing and sketching my friends.
And then much later, when I came to Paris, I was 18, and all my friends who were South American artists were abstract painters and it opened up my thoughts and made me feel free.
Britt in her Agamy Studio, 2024 Photo: Hassan Ghonim © 2024
Untitled, 2023 | 52 x 41 in. (133 x 106 cm) | Oil and acrylic on canvas
ME: What is your creative process?
BBG: I feel the discipline of working is the most important thing for me.
I’m in the studio everyday no matter how I feel. I’ll wake up in the morning, I’ll swim, and then I’ll go to my studio. I’ll have lunch at 3 pm, then a siesta until 6 pm, and then I’ll paint from 6-10 pm.
For my painting process I always start by putting all my colors around me. Then I just let things happen. I really don’t have any idea of what I’m going to do. Everything to start feels a little chaotic and then I slowly make order from the chaos and give it structure. Sometimes I’m not even aware of what I’m doing.
Starting with an empty canvas, I kind of blank out all my thoughts, all the problems, and everything that occupies my mind. And then I just take the first color that is closest to me and it just goes from there. It’s like I almost go into a trance in my work. This happens more and more as I get older. That’s why I can do a huge painting in a day.
ME: Does spirituality tie into your creative process:
BBG: I do feel like I’m being guided. For me the work must feel good energetically and have a soul—then knowing that it will eventually live in peoples’ homes and will pass on that energy to them.
ME: Who has inspired you, both in work and beyond?
BBG: There are so many!
I’m very inspired by Gustav Klimt. I love how he is unwavering with regards to being decorative. In art that is somehow not acceptable, but I love that. What I see around me every day inspires me.
ME: In one word, what brought you to Egypt?
BBG: Love.
ME: How has living in Egypt (for so many years) influenced your work and your overall vision?
BBG: It has given me the feeling of safety and being loved. That is for me so important.
ME: Being originally from Northern Norway, how does your childhood and early experiences play into your artistic journey?
BBG: The drama in my abstract work comes from the North. Storms. I was always longing to get out. I never felt I belonged there.
ME: What is your greatest indulgence?
BBG: My glass of wine! Every Friday I go to Delice in Alexandria for cake—it’s so delicious, it’s obnoxious.
ME: If you could invite anyone in the world and in history to join you for dinner, who would you invite?
BBG: Beethoven (to see what was behind all this) and Knut Hamsund
ME: Do you believe in magical thinking?
BBG: Definitely. I think that what you put your mind to, what you dream can come true if you let it. I found that very often the thing that you really want to happen and you kind of say it out loud, put it into the universe, then it usually comes to you. I really believe that we create ourselves from our thoughts. You have to be very careful what you think about!
ME: What do you wish for people to experience from your work?
BBG: I want people to feel a sense of beauty, and also peace with my work, and then to be excited and moved, because they constantly find new things in it. I also want people to feel transported from the outside world, where things are complicated, stressful, with war and suffering. I don’t want to paint suffering, there’s too much of that in the world already. I want the paintings to be healing.
ME: Do you have an overriding philosophy that guides you and drives you?
BBG: Yes, I believe that what you give out comes back to you. I think we have to be very very generous, kind, and humble, and to always be there to help if you can. I think that's so important, especially in our times now.
ME: What is on your bucket list?
BBG: It’s interesting, I feel I have so little time, so I don't want to move from my studio. I just want to work. Which is what I do about ten hours a day. I don't know, I just feel so so blessed every day. I'm so thankful.
Untitled, 2024 | 72 x 50 in. (180 x 123 cm) | Oil and acrylic on canvas
Britt in her garden in Agamy, Egypt, 2024 Photo: Hassan Ghonim © 2024
