Biography

I was born and raised in Germany and have been an imaginative and creative child and at school, art was my favorite subject. But I also knew that I am not an exceptional artistic talent and that it is not easy to make money with art, so studying fine arts was out oft the question. And at that time it was also difficult to get a study place for art, graphic design or something similar and I decided to study interior design. However, in Germany this is a rather technical course of study, it's more like engineering and has not so much to do with interior decoration. But of course there are lessons in drawing techniques, color theory and so on and I finished this study with a diploma

After graduation I already knew that the job market for interior designers is rather difficult in Germany and I also longed to work more creatively. Already during my studies I had earned money with jewelry design and various handicrafts and I always experimented with various painting techniques. Much of it I acquired myself, some of it I learned in courses and workshops. After my studies I also had an attack of wanderlust and so I combined both. I have been travelling for several years, living and working in the Caribbean, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.

Among other things I got the opportunity to work for a big tourism company in different hotels, where I taught craft and painting techniques to the guests in a art studio. With this experience I then founded together with a partner several own art studios, which we operated in different resort hotels. This was a great experience and challenge for some years, but you can imagine that there was not much room for my own creativity anymore. And during this time it became more and more clear to me that I was missing the creative part in my life and just wanted to be an artist

So I decided to make a clear cut again and went back to Germany. After a short stop in my home town I went to Berlin. I had met a Berlin artist through an internet forum for creative people and we became friends. We stayed in contact for quite a while, but had only met briefly once. But it all came together and when she talked about possibly renting a big studio, which would be quite big for her, I decided to move to Berlin. We shared a fantastic industrial loft with  a lot of shabby Bohemian atmosphere and rustic charm.

Berlin is an incredibly inspiring city and my boyfriend is an extremely talented artist from whom I learned a lot during these years. In our studio we painted at huge tables and sold these paintings well, we gave painting courses, I also started writing books about painting techniques and I had my first contracts with art print publishers who licensed my paintings.

During my travels I had also been very intensively engaged in photography. This has always interested me, and now the field of digital image editing was added, which still fascinates me today. It also gives me the opportunity to combine analog and digital work and mixed media is one of my preferred genres. During my time in Berlin I not only painted but also took a lot of pictures. My photos were licensed for Wall Art, but I also sold whole postcard series and motifs for home decoration and stationery.

It was a very creative, successful and inspiring time, but also a time in which the market for artists changed a lot. The demand for original artwork became smaller, my studio partner had a baby and the contract for our large studio expired, so it was time for a change. By a lucky coincidence on a trip to the Baltic Sea, my boyfriend and I found a house that we could afford although we were not looking for it. But we saw it as a sign of fate and so it happened that after 6 years in Berlin I moved to a small village in the countryside. Here, in a former dairy from 1920, I now have a lot of space to live in and for my creative work. A big garden, the surrounding nature and the proximity to the sea offer a nice contrast to the big city, a lot of inspiration and the possibility to relax.

Nowadays I work on many different projects, I have published 2 more book titles, but most of all I concentrate on my artistic work, always in mix or alternation of analog and digital. As far as painting techniques or a style is concerned, I never wanted to commit myself. Versatility is my middle name and I don't like to be tied down to one way of working or style. For me, art is an adventure playground and like a child I love to experiment, to discover new things, to try out techniques and styles. I do have a special liking for old illustrations, botanical books and antique manuscripts, from flea markets or from the internet, which I use in playful and detailed designs.  These works are mostly digital, but based on those vintage elements and materials. On the other hand, I like to mess around with brush and paint for some abstract paintings or spend hours with paper and scissors to cut out elements for collages. I still feel like I was as a child when I was immersed in some kind of craft work.

For inspiration, I find it really everywhere, very often also about new materials or techniques. When I see on Youtube or Instagram any painting technique that is new form me and catches my interest, I have to try it out myself right away, so I buy the necessary material and start experimenting until I get some decent results. I've probably tried almost all painting techniques, tools and styles and I'm also very daring to mix everything together. My art expresses my personality, I guess since I am a very versatile and very curious, I like to learn new skills and have really kept a childlike light-hearted and playful way of approaching things. For me, making art is not just a job or a profession, it is really a lifestyle and as important for me as eating or sleeping.  Sometimes I'm already in bed and I get some idea, then I'm immediately wide awake again and can't get any rest until I have made some sketches or notes