Would you like to have your portrait taken? And if so, how? What should not be missing from your portrait?
A new painting has emerged from a project that has been running since 2020, in which I develop the motifs of portraits together with the people portrayed. The featured image shows a detail of the recently completed portrait. The full view of the artwork can now be found online in my picture gallery!
The participatory working method offers those involved in the project a special insight into the process of creating a painting. At the beginning, I enter into a joint research phase with them, in which I hold discussions to get a feeling for the other person and their concerns. It is usually very personal experiences that come up and that are to be reflected in the painting. With the help of pictorial associations to the experience reports, which I capture in sketches and collages, the picture motif can develop in dialogue. The communication process lasts until the portrait design suits everyone involved.
I have always been interested in portraits. Over time, I have been able to try out different painting techniques. Since this project, I have been getting to know a new, but basically very old way of painting. I am very interested in it, because works of art that were created hundreds of years ago in the old masterly manner can often be admired in museums today, colourful and well preserved. This is a fascinating detail, as the plastics used today usually disintegrate much more quickly and works of art made from them are really difficult to restore. But there is not just one old masterly way of working, there are many traditional recipes and instructions for the production and use of painting materials. With each new work, I develop more and more of a feeling for the appropriate use of the ingredients and tools.
If you would like to find out more about my work with portraits, why not drop by my studio? From time to time I organise an open studio with visiting hours. You can find out about upcoming opening hours or exhibitions in my newsletter. Or write me an email!
