About

About Rafi Stern

Rafi Stern is a British born Israeli landscape and nature artist. Amongst the subjects that Rafi paints, he takes a special interest in the depiction of waterfalls and running water.

Rafi was born and grew up in London and emigrated to Israel in his early twenties. Although it was clear at a young age that he had a talent for the visual arts, his interests drew him to a career in engineering and it was only much later that he returned to art as a serious activity. Very quickly, his paintings garnered much praise and proved favorites at local shows. Today he has developed a distinctive realistic but impressionist style and creates paintings that combine his love for the Land of Israel and a fascination with bringing life to brush strokes of color on canvas.

Rafi is married with five children and lives in Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, Israel.

About my work

I make art as a way to bring creativity into my life and to rejoice in the beauty of the world around me.

In the spirit of the impressionists, I seek in my work to depict beauty in both the essence of a moment and in the full breadth of the scene that I am painting - the interactions of light and shade, fleeting movement, transparency, depth, expanse and intimacy.

Around us every day are fragments of beauty. Sometimes we are able to tarry and immerse ourselves in a place and soak up those fragments, but at other times all we see is a fleeting glimpse as we pass by. The play of sunlight through the leaves of a tree, early morning mist filling a valley, the transparency of crystal clear water in a flowing brook, the intimacy of an alley between old houses or the timeless majesty of the ancient walls of Jerusalem. Each of these speaks to us in its own way and calls on us to linger, absorb and recharge.

Painting is for me, a kind of intimacy with that beauty and the struggle to depict the essence of a scene is a labor of love. I invite you, the viewer to become a partner in my experience and to share in it. I hope that you will enjoy.

Exhibitions