Canoe on the lake

Oil on canvas

40 x 50 cm

2021

I was simply fascinated by the play of light and shadow and subsequently animated me to take a few more pictures, especially with the painting medium gouache, which was new to me. As already mentioned elsewhere, I have been spending a large part of the summer on the campsite right by this idyllic lake for years. Especially in times of pandemics, this was a refuge for mind and soul in 2021 as well. So a whole series of pictures were taken here in 2021 and I have good hope that I might be able to organize a small exhibition right on the lake in the coming year.

"Summer at Hammerschmiedesee"

Oil on HDF board

42 x 62 cm

2021

This is my first work on HDF. HDF is the material from which the rear panels for wardrobes are usually made. Why this material? The reason is pretty mundane: some time ago I had the opportunity to get hold of some old, dusty picture frames. The only problem was the sometimes very "exotic" dimensions, which no standard stretcher frame fits. If the prophet does not come to the mountain, the mountain must come to the prophet! As a result, I sawed the matching HDF panels to size.

It was then very exciting to work on this non-springy and so smooth medium, which was new to me. However, the result impressed me! I also rediscovered the paint medium oil here and will probably use it more instead of acrylic in the future. The luminosity is simply convincing! In addition, today's water-soluble (!) Oil paints no longer smell so strong and, above all, are quite easy to use!

I painted the picture on site, but not in front of the subject. I made a conscious decision to take a photo of people bathing and selected the appropriate ones as a template. A bather came out as a former art student and said to me: "You paint like Monet!"

That this flatters an artist without end should go without saying. She should have said that to me a hundred times that day ...... and every other day too ;-)

"Tango in Paris"

Acrylic on canvas

50 x 70 cm

2020

The order for this picture was created in spring 2019. The idea was to somehow combine the most important sights of Paris in one picture. Not that easy, considering where the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Art de Triomphe and Coeur are located in this big city. In fact, this is impossible. At least if you wanted to reproduce realistically. But I'm a painter. And the more I paint, the more I enjoy to paint my own reality. And then, if possible, the Seine and a few tango dancers on top of it ... A really demanding task!

I let the idea sink first, but I have always thought about implementing it. Then in April 2020 I suddenly saw how I wanted to paint the picture. The decision to paint the subject in the light of the setting sun was only made after I started painting. More details on the creation process can be found in my corresponding blog post.

"The mountain calls"

Acrylic on canvas

50 x 70 cm

2020

The roots of this picture actually go back to 2011. In the summer of that year I spent my vacation in Villes-sur-Auzon in Provence, as so often. The village lies at the foot of the giant of Provence, the Mont Ventoux. And from here I've cycled 15 times. Mountain bike, racing bike (with frame and a little more modern), also with the tandem. And I was up 3 times as a runner! Why as a runner? The answer is very simple: from Bedoin to Sommet, i.e. to the summit (1,912 meters above sea level), exactly 21 kilometers, i.e. a half marathon. And there are about 1,650 vertical meters. 1,650 meters in altitude without any possibility of relaxation, because it only ever goes uphill. No bridge over a brook, no level section, nothing. In principle, always in the sun and often in the wind ...... But it's just the mountain for cyclists! And it's the hardest in the whole Alps! Incidentally, the double Armstrong still holds the record at 58 minutes. Absolutely crazy and can only be done with unauthorized means! For me personally, there was a special experience during one of my runs, which were each preparation runs for a mountain marathon: I was overtaken by the world champion in reverse running with great media attention !!! Yes, there really is. Really crazy. And irritating to me in a special way - to avoid the word 'degrading'. By the way, my best time is two hours and thirty-eight minutes for this special training half marathon.

Back to the picture. So I painted it in 2011. Something different: Always standing in one place also meant that I could see a lot of cyclists here and observe them a bit. Somehow the picture didn't really want to succeed. I was probably not in the right mood. But absolutely wanted to paint this, my mountain .... I never found the result really satisfactory and the worst thing was: I just found it boring. And today, on April 24, 2020, in the middle of the Corona crisis, I had the idea at breakfast what I should change. It was only the second time that I painted over a picture. I'm really impressed with the result, even if it was painted a little too realistically ....