Beauty has always been my first language.
I grew up in a household surrounded by art, books and discipline, around painters, teachers and people who believed that there is essence in form. Music, culture and visual beauty were so much more than decoration, but a way of living and understanding the world.
My grandfather, Nicolae Filoteanu, was among them: an artist and educator who left a lasting mark on Romanian visual arts education. He was known for his sensitivity to colour, the delicacy of his palette and the balance of his compositions. More than that, he formed generations of artists, transmitting not only technique, but a deep respect for drawing, painting, with so much love and devotion for art.
He believed that art requires eyes, heart and discipline, and that one must first respect what is seen before attempting to interpret it. He was so devoted to visual truth, while being a simple, dignified being with so much depth and intellectual elegance.
Together with my grandmother, Dumitra Filoteanu, also a painter and teacher in “Nicolae Tonitza” High School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, they created a universe that felt like a small living museum, especially for a curious child. Their home was filled with paintings, student sculptures, handmade objects and so many books. Even in times that were not easy, their life was cultivated by creativity and beauty.
As a child, when I wanted to attend the same prestigious art high school where my grandma was teaching, my grandfather discouraged me. He believed the life of an artist was too difficult, too uncertain. And yet, life, in its ironic ways, found its own way of bringing me back through design, a contemporary and applied form of art.
Today, I see myself as a continuation of their natural love for art: the same devotion, expressed differently. The same sensitivity to form and essence, translated into a modern visual language.
What I bring is my own layer: awareness, introspection and alignment.
I am, in many ways, a living extension of my grandparents’ world, carrying forward their respect for beauty, truth and integrity through Amritaé Design, while also allowing it to evolve through my own voice.