Heinz Haas was born in Austria and started painting in 2001. He is a Chef (41 years) and a professor in the Hotel and Restaurant Management program at the Loyalist College (20 years) in Belleville , Ontario .  During the last three years he did the TV show “Taste the County” on Channel 4, 11 and 12.

“On a vacation trip to Prince Edward Island, my wife brought along a painting kit where you fill up your brushes with two colours and one can paint flowers and birds in a heart beat. She never used it!  On a boring rainy day, I decided to paint a lighthouse for my wife and got into the zone for the first time in my life to produce a painting. I was surprised and amazed: did I just do this? Where did that come from?

Now on his 70th painting, Heinz took his first class in February 2005 for two days and his work was accepted in the Quinte Arts Council’s visual art exhibit, Expressions 2005.

 “I paint mostly on canvas, some boards, I have a lot of my work framed and my medium is acrylics.  All sizes of paintings; from 4x6 to 24x30.  Strong bold colours seem to be my trait, with a slight influence of abstract. I still paint everything, any idea.  Also because of my business I do have quite a collection of food and wine paintings.

“About half of my works are done from pictures and other people’s ideas; the other half comes straight from my mood of the day. I know I will be growing with more experience and more classes, but nobody can take away the feeling I get when I am in the 3-4 hours zone and come up with great colours and some very nice work.”