About my paintings
For many years I lived with and loved to paint primarily as a means to temporarily enter a state of deep awareness and ecstasy. It brought moments of happiness and a sense of immersion-a loss of the boundaries of Self- and alternately, periods of blockage and flow. The happy accidents, disappointments and destruction; acts of holding on and letting go; in other words I experienced many of the emotions and situations common to Life, but distilled and intensified through the painting process.
In the last few years I’ve had the good fortune and opportunity to delve deeper into painting. In particular, I discovered and experimented with many diverse materials of mixed media and their techniques and enjoyed the experience I’ve gained. This journey has significantly enriched and changed my painting process.
I have painted on a fairly regular basis my entire life
I was born in 1953 in Essen, Germany. Nowadays, I live mainly in France.
I have painted on a fairly regular basis my entire life. Growing up, my creativity was encouraged at home, and I still have a thick binder filled with early childhood drawings which my mother saved. These pictures were full of a kind of fantasy and imagination which disappeared for a time once official schooling began. There were other influences which worked their way in to my art directly, or slowly over time. For example I had a wonderful old fashioned chemical set that was allowed back then, full of now-forbidden materials. From the ages of 10-18, I observed with curiosity and fascination the interactions and reactions of the chemicals as they created new colors, shapes and forms. Luckily, these experiments caused no damage! The enrichment and insights gleaned from these experiments would come to have influence on my painting process.
Later, I travelled widely, often through Asia and the Arab world, always with a watercolor set and paper at hand. The influences of the wealth of color and form, and the cultural inheritance of these lands’ historical art forms would seep into my perception and make a lasting impression upon me.
Always, wherever my travels brought me, I sought out the Natural World. Nature is the inexhaustible source of inspiration and Life energy. Psychedelic experiences also, gifted me with enrichment and insights that are relevant to my painting.
Nature is the inexhaustible source of inspiration and Life energy.
And last but not least, contact with other artists in recent years has meant that my ambitious and enthusiastic painting experiments have found a necessary critical companionship and support. I would particularly like to mention Gabriele Musebrink (D), Lukas Düblin (CH) and Amy-Alison Ward (USA).