Saša Čertanc: Cover Artist-The 101 Artbook Landscape Edition

In The 101 Art Book: Landscape Edition, the world unfolds through the eyes of artists who see land not only as a subject but as a feeling. Across its pages, we find 101 unique interpretations of the natural world fields and skies, oceans and horizons, moments that hold both wonder and stillness. The cover of this edition is graced by none other than Saša Čertanc, a Croatian painter known as ArtbySakidePaco. His gentle, evocative work sets the tone for the book quiet, thoughtful, and deeply emotional.

Čertanc doesn’t just paint landscapes; he enters them. Through his use of soft light, delicate tones, and dreamlike space, his paintings hold the calm of distant places and the pull of memory. They carry the kind of silence that feels alive the stillness before dawn, the breath between thoughts. His art reminds us that landscape is not only what we see outside, but something we carry within.

The 101 Art Book continues to bring together voices from around the world, and this edition, devoted to the language of land and nature, becomes a journey in itself. With Čertanc’s painting leading the way, the book opens as an invitation to pause and reconnect with what feels timeless the bond between art, earth, and emotion.

Who is Saša Čertanc?

Saša Čertanc is a contemporary landscape painter from Croatia whose work bridges the line between what we see and what we feel. A self-taught artist, he discovered his voice through quiet observation and deep emotional connection with nature. His paintings are not about realism or place, but about mood, memory, and presence.

In his world, the horizon is not just a line, it’s a threshold. Light is not only visual, but spiritual; colour becomes a reflection of emotion. Čertanc often says he paints what is felt, not what is seen. That philosophy defines every brushstroke he makes. His paintings are simple in form but layered in feeling they pull you in slowly, like remembering something you can’t quite name.

Beginnings of Saša Čertanc

Unlike many artists who come from formal training, Čertanc built his own artistic language through patience and practice. He started painting intuitively, without the guidance of art schools, but with a deep sensitivity to light, weather, and the quiet patterns of the world around him. His earliest works were explorations of tone and texture, born out of a fascination with how atmosphere can shape emotion.

Over time, his paintings became more than depictions of the land, they became meditations on it. What began as experimentation slowly turned into a personal philosophy about presence, silence, and connection. Every piece he creates carries that same sense of searching and stillness, a reminder that sometimes, art doesn’t come from instruction, but from paying attention.

Themes and Inspirations

The heart of Čertanc’s work lies in stillness and emotion. He paints landscapes that feel suspended between reality and memory places that exist as much inside us as they do outside. His art explores ideas of emotional geography, reflection, and light as a kind of psychological space.

In his series “Anatomy of Nature,” we see soft, meditative scenes that feel familiar yet distant like landscapes from dreams or from childhood memories that have blurred over time. In “Anatomy of Altered Nature,” he takes that feeling further, transforming the landscape into something more symbolic and imaginative, where emotion bends and shapes the horizon itself.

Through both, Čertanc returns to the same quiet question: Where does nature end, and inner nature begin?

Creative Process

Čertanc’s process is slow and patient. He doesn’t begin with a plan instead; he lets the painting unfold on its own. He often works in layers of tone and light, blending softly until atmosphere begins to appear. There’s a meditative rhythm to the way he paints each layer adds not only depth but a sense of time passing, like mist forming and dissolving.

He uses muted colours and gentle transitions, letting space breathe. The result is a surface that feels alive, full of movement but never rushed. When you stand before his paintings, you don’t just see the land you sense it. You feel the air, the light, the quiet pulse beneath it all. His work doesn’t end at the canvas; it continues in the viewer, lingering like memory.

Exhibitions and Recognition

Though self-taught, Čertanc has established himself on the international stage, with solo and group exhibitions across Europe and a growing global collector base.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2025 — Anatomy of Altered Nature, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
• 2025 — Anatomy of Nature, Europe Art Fair, MECC Maastricht, Netherlands
• 2024–2023 — Solo shows across Croatia (Kandlerova and Istarska Galleries, Pula)

Group Exhibitions

• Ptuj, Slovenia (2023)
• Grožnjan, Croatia (2021)

Awards & Honors (Selected)

• Recognition for Outstanding Booth Presentation — EuroArtFair Maastricht, 2025
• Blue Koi Gallery — 1st Place (Landscape), USA, 2025
• VAA Artist of the Year — Finalist, UK, 2025
• CFA Artist of the Month — Hon. Mention, France, 2025
• Teravarna — Hon. Mention, USA, 2025
• Jackson’s Art Prize — Nominated, UK, 2025
• Ex-Tempore Finalist — Ptuj, Slovenia

His works now reside in private collections worldwide a testament to their quiet universality.

Why His Vision Defines the Landscape Edition

In The 101 Art Book: Landscape Edition, landscape becomes more than subject matter, it becomes essence. Čertanc’s art embodies this transformation. His cover piece serves as a threshold between reality and reflection an entryway into a book that celebrates nature not only as muse but as memory.

Through his eyes:

• Stillness gains texture
• Time finds breath
• Light becomes emotion
• Landscape becomes soul-space

He doesn’t paint nature to be looked at; he paints it to be entered.

What Lies Ahead

Standing at the edge of new creative horizons, Čertanc continues to explore how perception shapes experience. His upcoming projects hint at larger-scale works, immersive landscapes, and perhaps even multi-sensory installations that merge light, space, and sound. Yet, no matter how his practice expands, his core intention remains unchanged: to create art that slows us down that reminds us to feel rather than merely see.

In a world of speed and distraction, Saša Čertanc paints stillness as an act of resistance. His landscapes are not destinations but dwellings sanctuaries for reflection, emotion, and memory. The 101 Landscape Edition honours nature’s infinite expressions. Čertanc honours what nature awakens within us.

And in that meeting between land, light, and longing his art becomes not just something to behold, but something to return to.