About the artist

Xanda Monteiro was born in Mozambique, Africa and has lived in both Africa and Europe, spending significant time in London, Portugal and Ireland. A graduate from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design & Technology, Xanda has practiced her photography for many years, interspersed with film production work. She has worked on many Irish films and commercials asa location scout and location manager.

Xanda has many passions, but the most significant ones are photography, nature, travel, writing, meditation and spiritual pursuits, such as the Tibetan "power wave", an arduous but satifying combination of exercise and meditation for the body and spirit. Instead of concentrating on each of her passions individually, Xanda works to combine them all into her life on a basic level, integrating each into the joy of living.

In recent years, she has become fascinated by the phenomenon of solar eclipses. Travelling to Madasgcar last year, Xanda photographed the stunningly rare event of an eclipse taking place at sunset. She prefers to rise early in the morning to capture stunning sunrises and lie out on the roof at night to capture night sky phenomenon with her camera. From Mozambique to Blackrock, each landscape Xanda produces explains her fascination with the beauty of nature and with the many variations of light and shadow.

A full document of Xanda's work and interests can be <a href="http://www.lightshadowandink.com/about_long.doc">downloaded</a> (97k Word document).