Ioana Schwalger is a New Zealand born artist who creates oil paintings inspired by her Samoan heritage and Christian faith. Her passion for portraiture is to bring to life the essence of a person and to express through paint their strength and beauty. Ioana studied a BFA at Elam, Auckland University, majoring in Photography and was a secondary school art and photography teacher for over 15 years. Ioana also creates commissioned works for individuals and companies.