Recent works
Some fresh paintings that are not really finished yet. For me, they have a nostalgic touch, and i called the one with the family the "corleone family".
Snowflakes in spring
Painting at work
KidsLife-Fashion shoot
Took such a long break from blogging - too many projects around our Magazine, KidsLife, which has it's own website as well. These pix are from a fashion project in the house of my artist-friend Andrea, photographed by the talented Robin Benito. It was great fun, the atmosphere was nice, the house (and hostess) beautiful, and the kids all did a great job. Am thrilled to work on the layout. The painting you see in the background of the first photo is a combined work of Andrea and me - a large Medusa head.
French Toast
Is a wonderful way to start a day of artistic adventures! This is how Sophie serves them in her romantic house in Conneticut: Cut crunchy italian white bread in thick slices, place them in a baking dish and soak with a mixture of 2 eggs, stirred in milk and a bit of Orange juice. Spice with a pinch of salt and some vanilla and crumble some butter on top. When the bread has absorbed the liquid, bake in the oven until lightly brown. Serve with maple-sirup and fresh fruit, hmmmm.
Beauty heals
The power of art to heal emotional wounds is well known, but could contemplating a beautiful painting have the same effect on physical pain?
To investigate, Marina de Tommaso and a team from the University of Bari in Italy asked 12 men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as da Vinci and Botticelli.
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The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with contemplating the ugly paintings or the blank panel. Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity suggested a reduced response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings
from: www.estatevaults.com, painting: Sandro Boticelli
In the tree
Painting, water & Vogue
A warm evening
A day in the studio
In the mood for spring
My kids
A small world of colours
More trees
My Studio
Assembly of paintings – finished, unfinished ... I always like to see paintings assembled as groups, influencing each other, forming something like a tune. I can never work on just one canvas a time, there always have to be more of them. And the, looking is just as important as painting. Looking, contemplating the next step – always an adventure!
The Rose (2008) by Cy Twombly
This is one from five new monumental paintings by American artist Cy Twombly, recently shown at Gagosian's Britannia Street gallery in London. Stanzas from "Les roses" by poet Rainer Maria Rilke, that inspired this series, are inscribed on the last panel of each painting. I can't believe he did those with 81 years! That is amazing. It shows, that the spirit does stay young and alive if you let it develop and don't loose touch with live!
Friday Pretties: Red Stillifes
These are from an 2008 series, playing with shapes and ornaments. It's amazing how paintings in vibrant colours can liven up a cool office-spaces and rooms full of computers, printers and the like.
I heard Bill gates uses huge flat monitors instead of paintings on the walls and has various artworks projected, according to the mood of the day. But that can never be the same. The energy is different. We've got to much flickering screens in front of us already and we crave the warmth and living vibrations from a painting we really like - well, at least i do!
Little dots - Forgetmenots
Trees
is what i see from the window of the room i paint in just now, and so the rythm of branches and twigs got into my paintings, changing colours from pink to green and blue ... When i start painting a new series, i allow things like this to happen. Sometimes i wonder, if it's the best way though. As mentioned before i do aim for simplicity with twists of surprises and double meaning, Yet i love to be surprised by my own doing sometimes - and the best paintings result from things i didn't plan before.
Think pink
Less is more
... at least i often think so, when i look at my own paintings. Somehow my goal is, to open up space and colour, not filling it with too many things. It is difficult though. Things and people are vital, and they do get in to my work and demand attention. These two are from an older series of stripes and flowers. I hope to get on with my new series over the weekend.
Blue flower
Progress with my new canvases?
Fashion shoot
Not painting, but playing with colours just the same. The first fashion shoot we did ourselves, on a beach along the Rhine. Robin (in tree) did the photos, beautiful Freda and her little brother Paul were the cutest models ever. Check out the whole thing in the new issue of KidsLife, coming out soon.