S E L E C T E D

CURRENT WORK PRESENTED.

I would like to take the opportunity to discuss some of my current work. So let me spotlight new paintings which are important to me for different reasons. Of course, it is a purely subjective, incomplete selection. For a complete overview of my œuvre, I refer to the PAINTING GALLERY. Day after day I am deeply grateful that I’ve acquired the skills to paint in my poetic, expressive way and with a clear recognition value. Since new works are constantly being created in my studio, the following list is also updated at regular intervals.

 

 

OCEAN AND MEMORIES IN THE MORNING LIGHT
2023
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE MODERN STATEMENT-PIECE

Large colorful abstract work, inspired by the book “The Interpretation of Dreams” (1900) by Sigmund Freud. Beneath the surface, where daylight fades, there are more answers than we have asked. Our thinking is just the tip of the iceberg.

 


 

 

WHEN WE WILL MEET IN THE MORNING OF THE DAY

2023. 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm. 47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

left part of the LARGE-SIZED TRIPTYCH AS STATEMENT PIECE

WHEN NIGHTS ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN DAYS

About the triptych: Large monochrome work, that very consciously refers to the (only apparent) lightness of watercolors, Chinese ink painting, and the wonderful handling of melancholy drawn in water. These three statement paintings carry my creative philosophy and appearance of my smaller ink drawings on paper to the large format and canvas. Furthermore, my inner inspiration for this emotional work: Love finds a place, even in the dark, even when there seems to be no hope. No light shines brighter than that of love, even in the midst of a moonless, black night. Love means eternity, because love is immortal. This triptych combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

left: WHEN WE WILL MEET IN THE MORNING OF THE DAY
middle: LOVE I FEEL BLOSSOMS INTO BITTERSWEETNESS
right: UNDER DARK LEAVES I DREAM OF A PERFECT WORLD
all paintings: 2023. ink, acrylic and oil on canvas
each painting: 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm. 47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

 

 

* * * *
“I’ve always loved black, and I realized that, from the beginning, man went into completely dark caves to paint. They painted with black too. They could have painted with white because there were white stones all over the ground, but no, they chose to paint with black in the dark.”
~ Pierre Soulages

* * *

The triptych consists of 3 single paintings, each in acrylic and oil on canvas and each with dimensions of 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm / 47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches. I prefer a hanging distance each of 20 cm / 7,87 inches between the 3 single paintings. Complete dimensions of this artwork, including the hanging space between the single paintings: 400 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm / 157,5 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches.

 


 

 

I AM THE SEA AND THE COAST (diptych)
diptych 2022
acrylic and oil on canvas
250 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
98,4 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

TWO LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS COMBINED
AS LARGE-SIZED DIPTYCH

Statement piece as large-sized diptych: I share the opinion of the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944), that paintings contain not only a creative message as single piece. You can look at them also in a major conceptional context. The diptych I AM THE SEA AND THE COAST combines two new and essential of my works from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents:

Inspired by endless summer walks along the coast of Mallorca…
The Morning – The Evening. Lights and colors during the day are different. There are similarities, but every phase of the day stays independent und has its very own feelings. The sea was, is and always will be a major place of longing for humans. The numeration is almost limitless: brightness, the Azure, summer (although I love the hibernal sea too), sand, waves, never ending noises of brakers and sea gulls, salt in the mouth and at the skin. Warmth, wanderlust and downtime. The sea deeply touches in its nativeness, autarchy, also destructiveness and its existence from the beginning to the end of all times. Everyone of us ties his own stories with the sea.

* * * *

The diptych combines following works and should „read“ from left to right:

left part:
– The Morning –
WE ARE LIKE ISLANDS IN THE SEA
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

right part:
– The Evening –
BEFORE TWILIGHT KISSES THE SHORELINE
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

* * * *

“You can never cross the ocean until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– Christopher Columbus

“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected on the deep.”
– William James

 


 

 

WAITING FOR YOU ON PRISTINE SHORES II
triptych 2022

The Morning – The Day – The Evening. Lights and colours during the day are different. There are similarities, but every phase of the day stays independent und has its very own feelings. The sea was, is and always will be a major place of longing for humans. The numeration is almost limitless: brightness, the Azure, summer (although I love the hibernal sea too), sand, waves, neverending noises of brakers and sea gulls, salt in the mouth and at the skin. Everyone of us ties his own stories with the sea. The trilogy combines following works and should „read“ from left to right:

left part:
– The Morning –
SEARCHING FOR THE DAWN II
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm

center part:
– The Day –
MAKE ME BELIEVE IN YOUR SUNLIGHT II
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2022
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm

right part:
– The Evening –
BEFORE TWILIGHT CALLS US BACK TO PORT II
arylic and oil on canvas, 2022
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm

 


 

 

LATE SUMMER IN THE HAMPTONS (triptych)
triptych 2021
150 (h) x 380 (w) x 4,5 cm
59,1 (h) x 149,6 (w) x 1,77 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE STATEMENT-PIECE
LARGE TRILOGY AS TRIPTYCH

The Hamptons are a very special place for me, a place of longing, where the really important things for the soul can be found. A place that seems to have fallen out of time, a retreat, somewhere between the Atlantic and the big city that never sleeps, somewhere between eternity, fast paced life and at the gates of the world. What I really need, it is in the small moments when the day gently sweeps over the coastal landscape and, above all, the colors and winds stay in my memory more than anything else.

Over the years, the cycle of life became an important topic in my painting. I’m not talking about the big events and actions. Life is always a collection of many little moments and key experiences. What do we remember when we look back? It is not the complete story of our life from A to Z, it is just a few important breathtaking moments that have shaped and enriched us. Life is a circle and follows the course of the sun: We awaken, we rise, we take a deep breath before we fall and fade again. In this specific artwork I deal with our inner restlessness and longing that sometimes makes it so difficult for us to remain in the moment and enjoy happiness.

This triptych combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

EARLY MORNING IN MONTAUK
2021. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
left part of the triptych

Inspired by the beautiful landscape in the Hamptons in early autumn… Let’s go to the lighthouse, Long Island behind us, the sea in front of us. End of the world, just one more step. The young sun shows us the way to the horizon. In the morning, when the sea still seems calm and the first light drives away the ghosts of the night, everything seems possible to us. then you push aside all the clouds with a single smile, then this moment becomes eternity and this place bears your name forever. And we feel like giants, freed from the shadows of the big city.

*

MEET ME ON GARDINER’S ISLAND
2021. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
central part of the triptych

Meet me on Gardiner’s Island, you said a long time ago. Do you remember, and do you still remember my name? Countless years passed, some melancholy, others meaningless. What seemed right became more and more blurred in the sea of your longings. We wanted so much, and yet we were no more and no different from all the others who tried to climb these peaks before us. And I ask you again: do you remember me and the way I remember you? Once upon a time we were queen and king, an adventurous world at our feet. But today we are history, and I know you are sleeping peacefully. I’m part of a story from another life. The storm is over. And we never met on Gardiner’s island, never will.

*

BEFORE SUNSET AT COOPER’S BEACH
2021. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
right part of the triptych

Once again inspired by autumn walks on Long Island … Before sunset at Cooper’s Beach. The shadows lengthen over the white, sandy beach. The day falls away from me and I listen to the voices of the waves as they tell their stories. There was a time when I looked forward to the nights. But today I let the fires burn so that they carry me through the rising night. Tell me, here in South Hampton, what better place to meet yourself?

* * * *

„There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.“
~ Anais Nin (1903 – 1977)

 


 

 

NAPOLEON AND JOSÉPHINE
diptych 2020
complete dimension of the diptych with a hanging distance of 20 cm/ 7.9 in between the paintings:
150 (h) x 260 (w) x 2 cm / 59.1 (h) x 102.4 (w) x 0,78 in
dimension of each painting:
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm / 59.1 (h) x 47.2 (w) x 0.78 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE COLORFUL STATEMENT PIECE
LARGE-SCALED DIPTYCH

The Emperor and Empress. Love is omnipresent. The power of love overcomes all obstacles. This is also the case with Napoleon and Joséphine (1763 – 1814), two lovers who could hardly be more different, born into a time of great upheaval, into feudal Europe between war and peace, between revolution, noble splendor and social poverty. When they get to know each other, the Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821) is still an insignificant young officer. The six years older, already widowed Joséphine (Napoleon was the first to give her this first name, which she then used herself) was already at this time as Marquise de Beauharnais the center of Paris society in the post-revolutionary epoch of the Directoire. Napoleon was passionate about her, and through her contacts and social position she helped him to rise to high political and military ranks. The two married in 1796, and in 1804, despite her dubious reputation, Napoleon crowned her empress in the Church of Notre-Dame in Paris. While Napoleon continued to rise to the position of conqueror and dictator, Joséphine became the role model of the Empire, was the much sought-after propagandist of French fashion, ambassador of the elegant way of life, figurehead of the flourishing luxury industry. Empress Joséphine was a great lover of all art. Her great interest in horticulture is well-known, but she also liked all things artistic. She surrounded herself with creative people whose work ranged from paintings and sculpture to furniture and the architecture all around her. After the collapse of the Empire and Napoleon’s forced abdication, she asked Emperor Alexander I of Russia in the gardens of Malmaison to join Napoleon in exile. It was probably during this walk that she caught a severe cold from which she died painfully on May 29, 1814. Napoleon learned of her death while in exile on Elba, and stayed locked in his room for two days, refusing to see anyone. His last words on his death bed were: „France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine.“ But who were they really, how did they love? The winners alone make the story. And Napoleon himself was a master of propaganda. So the truth remains hidden forever. What is certain, however, is that love and passion overcome all obstacles.

This colorful diptych combines the following works and should be “read” from left to right:

left part of the diptych:
THE LAST CALM DAY BEFORE THE STORM (THE EMPEROR)
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47.2 (w) x 59.1 (h) x 0.78 in

My beloved Joséphine, now and here, the sun is smiling on our faces, and it almost shines for eternity. But there is no rest, not for us. There is only the silence before the storm, the last bright rays in a cloud-shrouded firmament. Whether we say it or refuse it, as in myself, chaos is already looming on the horizon. What was what we share now, it will never be the same again.

* * * *

right part of the diptych:
IF I COULD LOOK BEYOND THE HORIZON (THE EMPRESS)
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47.2 (w) x 59.1 (h) x 0.78 in

My beloved Bonaparte, I live as I love. Does it matter in the here and now what may be beyond the horizon? What they will say and write about me will only be a footnote in world history, an annex to your biography, and it will not be the truth, but only a reflection of their own virtues and vices. The future belongs to the emperor, this moment with him is mine alone.

* * * *

“I awake full of you. Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures has left no rest to my senses.“
~ Napoleon Bonaparte (December 1795, in one of his numerous letters to Joséphine; only the love letters from Napoleon to Joséphine have survived, which she kept for the rest of her life. It is still unclear whether Josephine never wrote back or whether her letters have disappeared.)

“France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Joséphine.“ („France, l’armée, tête d’armée, Joséphine“).
~ Last words of Napoleon on his death bed (St. Helena, May 5, 1821)

 


 

 

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (diptych)
Diptych 2021
150 (h) x 260 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 102,36 (w) x 0,78 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE STATEMENT PIECE
LARGE-SCALED DIPTYCH

About the background: Nothing is permanent, we live in the moment and for change. Even if we wanted to, we cannot hold onto what is already on the run. We have to accept this coming and going. Everything flows (panta rhei), the big as well as the small things. And with the years and the growing experience of life I can already feel the approaching storm before it announces itself on the horizon. Nothing will stay as it was and the storm will shake everything up. But afterwards it will be fine, because the calm will return to me. This monochrome diptych combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

*

ABOUT THE HERE AND NOW
2021. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,78 in
left part of the diptych

In the quiet moments, totally attached to the here and now. No yesterday and no tomorrow. Just these precious moments with all their fleeting miracles, which I only fully understand when they are already slipping between my fingers again. An endless spiral of farewells and greetings.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
~ Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now)

“Yesterday is gone.
Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today.
Let us begin.”

~ Mother Theresa

*

MY HOUSE BY THE SEA
2021. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,78 in
right part of the diptych

There is a place of longing that towers above everything. This house by the sea. No luxury, no pomp, just the original, just the pure feeling of closeness to the water and the beach. Especially in times when the here and now makes me cramped and my soul becomes heavy, as the beach seems far away, my thoughts are more than ever on this house by the sea. Nothing has more magic than the ocean. And a place where everything falls away from me.

“It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.”

~ John F. Kennedy (September 14, 1962)

 


 

WHEN TWO WORLDS COLLIDE (diptych)
Diptych 2020
150 (h) x 260 (w) x 4,5 cm
59,1 (h) x 102,36 (w) x 1,77 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE STATEMENT PIECE
LARGE-SCALED DIPTYCH

Inspired by long conversations by the fireplace…
When two worlds collide, we live for the moments that are worth remembering. Everything else is part of a past that tries to keep us from moving on. I want to see more, feel more, live more, you say. I’ve already seen a lot, but it’s not enough for me. I want to go on until my feet and my curiosity no longer carry me. But the time has not come yet. You look at me expectantly, but I don’t say anything. When two worlds collide, love is not a safe place, it never was. Moments and the memories of them may be intended for the universe, but not people.

This diptych combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

*

IN THE LIGHT OF THE VIRGIN MORNING
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 in
left part of the diptych

The Awakening: We are giants in the morning light. We have no questions at the beginning. Every breath is a sunny day and feels like paradise. No doubt in our head and in our hearts. We have no fear of the future. We live and we feel. We do not need more. We believe that these perfect and safe days and nights are endless, that they will last forever. But we have to grow up sooner or later.

*

ON OUR LAST BREATH BEFORE SUNSET, REMEMBER US
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 in
right part of the diptych

The Fading: Late summer becomes autumn and winter is only a matter of time. The show is not over with one last bang. It is a slow process with countless steps from light to dark. The sun is already setting. But we want to resist, we want to stop the sun from running, if only for a short time. But we are no gods. We are not immortal. And tears fall. We feel too young to say goodbye. But we can be proud because we leave footprints here on earth. And it’s not over now. We begin to accept our fate and enjoy the time that is given to us. Hope and love are the answers that help us through leaden hours. We smile and kiss and drink. And we remember Dylan Thomas: We don’t go gentle into this good night. – There is no real finale, we are only a small part of the circle.

* * * *

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
~ William Faulkner

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
~ Lao Tzu

 


 

ALL ENDS IN SILENCE IN PASSCHENDAELE
2021
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas
Coronavirus series

The Battle of Passchendaele (also known as Third Battle of Ypres) was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the attacking Allies (Belgian, French, British Expeditionary Force and Canadian Expeditionary Force) against the defensive German Empire, near the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, from July to November 1917. Men went into battle because the politicians told them this was the decisive war that would end all wars. But nothing but horror and death awaited them. The battle ended with the conquest of the small village of Passchendaele, but there were hundreds of thousands of casualties in this offensive. More than 600,000 soldiers died here in just 100 days for a small shift of the front line. The campaign was controversial and has remained so. Especially the effect of the exceptional weather, the decision to continue the offensive in rainy October and the human costs of the battle are also debated. That is why the Flanders Offensive now stands for the brutality and senselessness of this war.

* * *

“This is a war to end all wars.”
~ Woodrow Wilson (President of the United States), 1917

As statements to counter President Woodrow Wilson’s words:

„Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
~ George Santayana (Spanish author), 1922

“This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”
~ David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister), 1917

* * *

About the background:

This painting is one of a monochrome series of current works that artistically deal with the subject of the coronavirus and the effects. There is an existential threat that is not exactly tangible, remains diffuse and yet dominates everything. What does this pandemic do to the individual? What will remain of this strangely depressing time? Sometimes a look at history helps. In modern history, how did previous generations deal with such dramatic episodes? And we understand, there were dramas of completely different dimensions that humans are able to cope with.

A war of annihilation raged around a hundred years ago (1914 – 1918) that set the entire world on fire and changed everyone: The First World War is the key event of the 20th century and is still having an impact today. The history books contain the names of the generals and the great battles. But what about the normal individual, the one in the trenches as well as the families who struggled for survival back home? How did you think, how did they feel in the midst of an existential threat that they had no control over?

The photos of the battlefields of the First World War, in particular the fighting on the Western Front in Flanders, before Verdun and on the Marne and Somme (between German, French, British, American, Belgian, Australian, New Zealand, Portuguese, and Canadian soldiers) formed the con-crete template for these paintings. The monochrome color scheme of the paintings, dominated by Prussian Blue, refers to the historical black and white photos. The letters that the soldiers at the front wrote back home are well documented. And anyone reading this field post today will notice that the men in the armies (and their families) thought and felt alike despite their opposition. And even more, how similar people were to us with all their hopes and fears at the beginning of the 20th century, more than we probably want to admit.

Today these battlefields have been renatured. The fields and forests are quiet and peaceful, and almost nothing gives an inkling of the earlier horror, the trenches, and mass armies that generated unprecedented destructive power with modern weapons. What determined the fate of millions of people is now only a fading memory. And this is exactly what the artworks in this series of paintings tell about. There is a fundamental insight: every horror has an end at some point. The chance to shape life individually and freely again will return. The coronavirus will only remain a temporary episode in all of our lives. And in a hundred years at the latest we won’t even remember what is troubling us now, what caused it, whether it was good or bad, and whether it was a medical or a human disaster. The dark fades (too) quickly. Man is a survivor and always looks ahead. And that’s how I want the paintings in this series to be understood, despite the difficult subject, as signs of firm hope.

 


 

THE SLEEPLESS LONGING FOR THE DISTANT (triptych)
Triptych 2020
150 (h) x 380 (w) x 4,5 cm
59,1 (h) x 149,6 (w) x 1,77 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE-SIZED STATEMENT PIECE
LARGE-SIZED TRILOGY AS TRIPTYCH

Over the years, the cycle of life became an important topic in my painting. I’m not talking about the big events and actions. Life is always a collection of many little moments and key experiences. What do we remember when we look back? It is not the complete story of our life from A to Z, it is just a few important breathtaking moments that have shaped and enriched us. Life is a circle and follows the course of the sun: We awaken, we rise, we take a deep breath before we fall and fade again. In this specific artwork I deal with our inner restlessness and longing that sometimes makes it so difficult for us to remain in the moment and enjoy happiness. This triptych combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

*

AS FAR AS THE CURRENTS CARRY ME
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
left part of the triptych

*

TEARS FROM DIFFERENT SKIES FILL THE OCEAN
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
middle part of the triptych

*

FROM ONE END OF THE WORLD TO THE OTHER
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
right part of the triptych

* * * *

There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.
~ Anais Nin (1903 – 1977)

 


 

TEARS FROM DIFFERENT SKIES FILL THE OCEAN
2020
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4,5 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 1,77 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

Color-reduced, monochrome painting in Prussian and Phtalo blue, inspired by the picturesque poetry of traditional Japanese and Chinese ink drawings. About the thematic background of the painting:

Empires like us
One day
Golden and great
Rise and fall
Another day
And all our tears
From different skies
Are silent witnesses
As they fill the ocean.

CB/2020

* * * *

People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something – always, in a word, seeking.
~ Bodhidharma

 


 

THE LAST CALM DAY BEFORE THE STORM
2020
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

About the thematic background of the painting (and also with reference to current social events):

You and me
We want to live where the light warms us.
You dance through the damp grass of late afternoon
And pretend that everything is infinite
Our love, this summer, the calm world out there
And you may even be right with this view
You laugh and the wind plays in your hair
But the day is already casting long shadows
Storm is in the air and it will change everything.
We will not stop what is coming
We are not gods and no heroes, but only humans
And the storm won’t ask what we were called
Won’t ask who we were or what we longed for.
I don’t want to rise and fall
It’s too good to give up without resistance.
Suddenly you stop in your dance through the grass
You look me in the eye, full of hope
Whatever comes, you say, it’s no bigger than we are
Enjoy THE LAST CALM DAY BEFORE THE STORM
Who lives by the sword dies by the sword
So take off your senseless armor
Anger or hate are never an answer
Love me and remember:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
Only light can do that.“

CB/2020

* * * *

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
~ Martin Luther King Jr. (A Testament of Hope)

But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

 


 

WHAT LIES BELOW THE SURFACE
2020
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas

About the thematic background of the painting:

You and me.
You lie next to me sleeping
And I hear you breathing evenly
Trying to guess the places your dreams take you to.
But do I know you, do you know me?
We are so much more than what we are with us
So much more, so very different than on the visible surface.
Like icebergs drifting through the murky sea of life
We do not know about our origin or our goal
And under the waterline, in the dark depth
All our consciousness is lost.
What may we be, who may we be?
Beneath the gentle surface where our soul lives?
Each of us is our own iceberg.
I promise you nothing, my love
Because in the abysses of the soul
Valleys lurk that are always in shadow.
No escape, there is no turning back.
WHAT LIES BELOW THE SURFACE
Accompanies us without being asked.
And the current carries us further
Out into the wild open sea.

CB/2020

* * * *

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
(Shakespeare: Hamlet, act IV scene V)

Cassius to Brutus:
It’s not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.
(Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, act I)

 


 

IN THE LIGHT OF THE VIRGIN MORNING
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas
2020

After a long dark night
When you finally open your eyes
After a heavy leaden time
When your heart can breathe again

The sun will rise, shiny golden
Innocent and far above you
Whatever was and made you die
Let it go, now it has a new name

Take my hand, let us walk like newborn
Under the virgin California sun
In the promising first light
Hope is in the magic of the moment.

CB/2020

* * *
Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once.
~ Marilyn vos Savant


 

FROM THE PROMISING FIRST LIGHT TO THE VERY LAST LIGHT
Triptych 2020
380 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
149,6 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS.
LARGE-SIZED TRILOGY AS TRIPTYCH.

Over the years, the cycle of life became an important topic in my painting. I’m not talking about the big events and actions. Life is always a collection of many little moments and key experiences. What do we remember when we look back? It is not the complete story of our life from A to Z, it is just a few important breathtaking moments that have shaped and enriched us. Life is a circle and follows the course of the sun: We awaken, we rise, we take a deep breath before we fall and fade again. This triptych is the result of long-lasting creative inner struggles (and sleepless nights), combines the following works and should be „read“ from left to right:

*

The Awakening…
IN THE LIGHT OF THE VIRGIN MORNING
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
left part of the triptych

We are giants in the morning light. We have no questions at the beginning. Every breath is a sunny day and feels like paradise. No doubt in our head and in our hearts. We have no fear of the future. We live and we feel. We do not need more. We believe that these perfect and safe days and nights are endless, that they will last forever. But we have to grow up sooner or later.

*

The Pulsation…
GIVE ME HOPE IN HOPELESS DAYS
2017. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
center part of the triptych

Our sun is at its zenith. We are invincible and assert ourselves. We fight and love and love and fight. This is the time of our lives that we will longingly remember in ten and twenty years. We are no longer innocent, but we have the right to make our own mistakes. And we have endless dreams and there are no limits to the world. We laugh and kiss and remember Samuel Beckett: ever try. Ever failed. No matter. Please try again. Failed again. Fail better. – But nothing is forever. The wind will change sooner or later and suddenly there are first clouds in our summer sky.

*

The Fading…
ON YOUR LAST BREATH BEFORE SUNSET, REMEMBER US
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,77 inches
right part of the triptych

Late summer becomes autumn and winter is only a matter of time. The show is not over with one last bang. It is a slow process with countless steps from light to dark. The sun is already setting. But we want to resist, we want to stop the sun from running, if only for a short time. But we are no gods. We are not immortal. And tears fall. We feel too young to say goodbye. But we can be proud because we leave footprints here on earth. And it’s not over now. We begin to accept our fate and enjoy the time that is given to us. Hope and love are the answers that help us through leaden hours. We smile and kiss and drink. And we remember Dylan Thomas: We don’t go gentle into this good night. – There is no real finale, we are only a small part of the circle.

* * * *

„There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.“
~ Anais Nin (1903 – 1977)

 


 

AFTER THE RAIN HAS FALLEN
Triptych 2020
380 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
149,6 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas

LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS.
LARGE-SIZED TRILOGY AS TRIPTYCH.

About my inspiration:
Dramas are unavoidable. There are so many personal realities and not just one truth. That’s the cause of misunderstandings, contradictions and conflicts. Man is the origin of everything that is good and of everything that is bad in this world. Therefore, I deal in my work with the individual human being and his location in the modern age. Where are the truths of past times, all the certainties and the clear paths? We live in troubled times and lost the basic trust of childhood. We stand between hope and fear, between history and now, between faith and fight. So many different biographies united and separated by passions and longings, fears and doubts. And with dramatic stories that are worth telling. I do not paint new and fictional worlds; the human being is the only center of my artistic attention. Each abstraction starts with him and his little big world, his inner kingdom, his wounded soul. I choose nature as a great metaphor. That’s the way in how I reflect on what I want to tell about people. Nature is powerful, full of inspiring light, harmony and aesthetics. Man becomes small in the face of this beauty, which he can admire, but which he will never reach. And yet there is a connection. Nature is in us. All that defines us as human beings, what lives in us and makes us sleepless, all this has its counterpart in nature and is similar to coasts, mountains, seasons, forests and oceans. And our soul is the most enigmatic of all landscapes in which we wander as seekers and interrogators. My paintings give these journeys a face. Like a chronicler they document my wanderings through the inner landscapes. No doubt this is highly emotional, and it touches me deeply. It’s personal, sometimes dark and archaic, then again romantic and hopeful. But that’s exactly how I want it in my work. It can be an alliance or a duel, but in the end nature will always win.

This trilogy AFTER THE RAIN HAS FALLEN combines three very poetic works (from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents) and should be „read“ from left to right:

„I WOKE TO THE SOUND OF RAIN I“
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
left part of the triptych

„MOUNTAINS MUST FALL“
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches
center part of the triptych

„I WOKE TO THE SOUND OF RAIN II“
2020. acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches
right part of the triptych

* * * *

„Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.“
~ John Updike (1932 – 2009)

 


 

left side:

I WOKE TO THE SOUND OF RAIN I
2020
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas

And even if it was only a brief moment
I woke to the sound of rain
With the smell of your hair on the pillow
I woke to the sound of rain
In the heights of a new morning
That promised more than it could ever hold
I woke to the sound of rain
And the still virgin sun bore your name.

CB/2020

 

right side:

I WOKE TO THE SOUND OF RAIN II
2020
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas

And so it only stayed for a short moment
I woke to the sound of rain
With your goodbye kiss on my lips
I woke to the sound of rain
In the middle of a leaden night
That was more real than you would ever be
I woke to the sound of rain
Once again determined to forget you and your name.

CB/2020

 


 

BEFORE THE TWILIGHT CALLS US BACK TO PORT
2019
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,79 inches
acrylic and oil on canvas

Hoist the leaden anchor
Wherever you want to go
Put the linen sails
Whatever you want to be
Before the winds turn
Before autumn comes
Before the twilight
Calls us back to port

CB/2019

* * * *

“We know what we are, but not what we may be.”
~ William Shakespeare

 


 

WAITING FOR YOU ON PRISTINE SHORES
triptych 2019
acrylic and oil on canvas
380 (w) x 120 (h) x 2 cm
149,6 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

The Morning – The Day – The Evening. Lights and colours during the day are different. There are similarities, but every phase of the day stays independent und has its very own feelings. The sea was, is and always will be a major place of longing for humans. The numeration is almost limitless: brightness, the Azure, summer (although I love the hibernal sea too), sand, waves, neverending noises of brakers and sea gulls, salt in the mouth and at the skin. Warmth, wanderlust and downtime. The sea deeply touches in its nativeness, autarchy, also destructiveness and its existence from the beginning to the end of all times. Everyone of us ties his own stories with the sea. The trilogy combines following works and should „read“ from left to right:

left part:
– The Morning –
SEARCHING FOR THE DAWN
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

center part:
– The Day –
MAKE ME BELIEVE IN YOUR SUNLIGHT
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

right part:
– The Evening –
BEFORE TWILIGHT CALLS US BACK TO PORT
arylic and oil on canvas, 2019
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 0,79 inches

* * * *

“You don’t need to be the tide to rise and fall,
you don’t have to be a wave to touch the shore;
just be a little sand-grain and feel them all.”
― Munia Khan

 


TIME IS DANCING FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE II
triptych 2018/19
acrylic and oil on canvas
380 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm

LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS.
LARGE-SIZED TRILOGY AS TRIPTYCH.

I share the opinion of the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944), that paintings contain not only a creative message as single piece. You can look at them also in a major conceptional context. This triology TIME IS DANCING FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE combines three new and essential of my works (2017/2018) from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents.

One day from sunset to sunrise and from sunrise to sunset. One day and month, one season and year, one life. We are on a journey. There’s no standstill. The clock is ticking. Carpe diem et memento mori. Time is dancing and fading. We all have a fate. But it’s not of us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. And so every day, every breath is precious and beyond retrieval. Scars remind us of our history. The small and the big stories of our life. We don’t remember every face and place. But we feel what we were and what we are. Carpe diem et memento mori – remember that you will die and seize the day.

The triptych combines following works and should „read“ from left to right:

„TRUE AT FIRST LIGHT V“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
left part of the triptych

„WE’LL MEET AGAIN SOME SUNNY DAY“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2017/18 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
center part of the triptych

„TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD AND BEYOND II“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 2 cm
right part of the triptych

* * * *

„Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.“
– Cormac McCarthy (ex: All the Pretty Horses)

 


 

EVERY SUMMER HAS A STORY (left)
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 2 cm / 59,1 (w) x 47,2 (h) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas
2019

When I wake up
In the early summer
Wanna wake up with you
In my mind and by my side
Wanna face the beauty
And the beast

When I wake up
In the midsummer
Still wanna wake up with you
In my heart and hand in hand
Wanna face your sunlight
And believe.

CB/2019

* * *

„Beauty will save the world.“
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

* * *

DAYDREAMING OF AN ENDLESS SUMMER (right)
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 2 cm / 59,1 (w) x 47,2 (h) x 0,79 in
acrylic and oil on canvas
2019

Be aware I’m dreaming the dark
A fallen king, a stranded soul
Without a throne, without an ark
Somewhere, somehow
Wanna find shelter from the cold.

Can’t you see I’m yearning for light
A ground to live, a space to be
A place to keep me warm at night
Somewhere far from here
Where the summer never ends.

/CB

* * *

„What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.“
~ John Steinbeck

 


DEEP BLUE DAYS DOWN BY THE SEA
quadriptych 2019
acrylic and oil on canvas

horizontal hanging (4 paintings side by side in one line):
540 (w) x 150 (h) x 4 cm / 212,6 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,6 inch*
vertical hanging (2 paintings side by side in two lines on top of each other)
260 (w) x 320 (h) x 4 cm / 102,4 (w) x 125,9 (h) x 1,6 inch*
(*with a hanging distance each of 7,9 in / 20 cm between the single paintings)

TWO HANGING OPTIONS: HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL HANGING – 4 LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS AS QUADRIPTYCH

This quadrilogy is inspired by the sea as a never-ending melancholic, bittersweet but beautiful and poetical inspiration. Early in the morning – at noontime – in the evening hours – at night. Down by the sea, lights and colors, wind speed and directions are very different during the day and during the seasons. There are commonalities, but every phase stays independent und has its very own feelings. The sea was, is and always will be a major place of longing for humans. The numeration is almost limitless: brightness, the Azure and deep blue layers, summer (although I love the hibernal sea too), sand, waves, never-ending noises of breakers and sea gulls, salt in the mouth and at the skin. Wanderlust and downtime. It is the quiet life down by the oceanside. The sea deeply touches in its nativeness, autarchy, also destructiveness and its existence from the beginning to the end of all times. Every one of us ties his own stories with the sea. The quadriptych combines 4 pieces of my series of works with the title SUBZERO from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents and should „read“ from left to right:

first twilight brightens the sky:
A LOVE SO DEEP THE OCEAN WOULD BE JEALOUS
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 1,6 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4 cm

promising tenderness in the morning:
AS WIDE AND AS WAVERING AS THE OCEAN
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 1,6 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4 cm

golden hours at noontime:
AS TIMES GO BY IN BEAUTY AND MELANCHOLIA
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2014
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 1,6 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4 cm

before the nightfall:
LET THE OCEAN BRING ME BACK SOME MEMORIES OF YOU
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2019
59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 1,6 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4 cm

 


LOVE AND POISON
diptych 2010
acrylic and oil on canvas
250 (w) x 150 (h) x 4 cm
98,4 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,6 in

Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same.
~ George R. R. Martin

The facets and seasons of love are always a romantic but bittersweet creative inspiration. The diptych combines following 2 works and should ‚read‘ from left to right:

WHAT YOU CALL LOVE IS A DARK PLACE
acrylic and oil on canvas
2010
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,6 in
left part of the diptych

WITH ERNA SCHILLING AT THE SEA
acrylic and oil on canvas
2010
120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4 cm
47,2 (w) x 59,1 (h) x 1,6 in
right part of the diptych

 


THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN

triptych 2018. 380 x 150 cm / 149,6 x 59,1 in

This trilogy is inspired by the history of the medieval Crusades. These Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites in the Eastern Mediterranean considered sacred by both groups. Eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts started in 1095, when Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in a sermon at the Council of Clermont. But the two-century attempt to recover the Holy Land from Muslim rule ended in failure. The last Catholic outposts Acre fell in 1291. But the Era of the Crusades is also intrinsically tied to famous medieval commanders as Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (Frederick Barbarossa), Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart), and Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and it was the birth of knightly orders as The Knights Templars, The Teutonic Knights and The Hospitallers of St John. The Crusades had also an impact on Middle East nations for many years, and still influence political and cultural views and opinions held today.

This fight between the Orient and Occident, between (Roman Catholic) Christianity and Islam has a long history. It is still a subject of discussion where was the starting point of this conflict and I don’t want to adjudicate on medieval incidents, perpetrators and victims and on deeds and misdeeds on both sides from the perspective of the 21st century. But what I know: those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it (Winston Churchill). Only the deeper knowledge of the past enables a peaceful tomorrow. This fact includes the attempt of understanding individual medieval environment, motivation and set of beliefs. Beyond all question historical narratives of the Era of Crusades offer us stories of humility, courage, creed, and hope and inspired romance, philosophy, and literature by accounts of heroism, chivalry, and piety. Emotions mixed with their unshakeable belief in God that motivated kings, knights, servants and ordinary people to “Take the Cross”.

My trilogy THE FAITHFUL AND THE FALLEN about the First Crusade combines three essential of my works (2018) from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents. The triptych brings important events of the Era of the Crusades into focus and should “read” from left to right:

„DEUS LO VULT. GOD WILLS IT“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018 / 59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,8 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
left part of the triptych

„THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018 / 59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,8 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
center part of the triptych

„NO MORE SHALL MY MORNING RISE IN OUTREMER“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018 / 59,1 (h) x 47,2 (w) x 0,8 in / 150 (h) x 120 (w) x 2 cm
right part of the triptych

* * * *

„As we go in the name of God, we are confident that He will guide us.“
~ James I. of Aragon (1208 – 1278)

“You who love with true love, awake!
Sleep no more! The lark tells us know that the day is here
And tells us in her songs that the day of peace has come
Which God, in his great tenderness, will give to those who for love of him
Take the cross and for their burden suffer pain both night and day
Then he will see who truly love him.”
~ from ‚Les chansons de croisade‘ (Songs of the Crusades), unknown poet but written before the poet’s participation in the Fifth Crusade around 1218

 


My giant commissioned painting at place in the heart of London, with a view to the London Tower. OF LOVE AND HOPE AT THE END OF SUMMER — a commissioned work for a collector in UK — is a very large-sized giant painting on pure linen canvas, finished after two creative and challenging month in summer 2018. It is always an exciting and satisfying process to work in such giant sizes. Really one of my favorites and one more piece showing proof that my painting and artist’s statement (also) accord with very large-sized dimensions. I’m really thankful, and very interested in new exciting commissions (please contact me for details).

OF LOVE AND HOPE AT THE END OF SUMMER
350 (w) x 215 (h) cm / 138 (w) x 85 (h) inch
2018 / acrylic and oil on canvas

Wake me gently
Before darkness
When love still lives
Before eventide
Before twilight

Kiss me softly
Before we fall
When hope still burns
Before autumn
Before first frost

Touch me deeply
Whisper quietly
A forever poem
Of love and hope
When summer ends.

CB/2018

 


 

 

LATE IN THE SUMMER
triptych 2018 (three studies)
vertical hanging (on top of each other): 120 (w) x 250 (h) x 2 cm
optional horizontal hanging (side by side): 380 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

The three paintings in a landscape format are different studies for a giant painting that I’ve realized after two very creative and challenging months in summer 2018. All three studies (and the giant painting) focus on the same message and tell something about the melancholical feelings in late summer when the wind changes and suddenly there are first clouds in our blue sky. We don’t want the summer and sunny light to end but late summer turns to autumn, and the winter is just a question of time. It’s a slow process with countless steps from the light into the dark. The sun already descents but we want to resist, we want to stop the run of the sun, and if it’s only for a little while. But we are no gods. We are not immortal. And hope and love are the answers that help us through darker hours. We smile and kiss and drink and remember Dylan Thomas: we don’t go gentle into that good night. There is no real final, we are just a small part of the circle.

* * *

This trilogy contains 3 single paintings, each in acrylic and oil on canvas and each with dimensions of 120 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm. The triptych offers two very different hanging possibilities:(a) vertical hanging on top of each other: beautiful and very creative hanging method if you have enough ceiling height. If so I prefer a hanging distance each of 5 cm between the 3 single paintings.In that case the complete dimension, including the hanging space between the three paintings: 120 (w) x 250 (h) x 2 cm. (b) horizontal hanging side by side: traditional but also beautiful hanging method of the triptych. If so I prefer a hanging distance each of 10 cm between the 3 single paintings. Complete dimensions of this artwork, including the hanging space between the single paintings: 380 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm. The triptych combines following studies and should „read“ from top to bottom (hanging on top of each other) respectively from left to right (hanging side by side):

FROM SUMMER TO FALL I (study)
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 120 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm
upper/left part of the triptych

OF LOVE AND HOPE AT THE END OF SUMMER (study)
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018. 120 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm
medium/center part of the triptych

FROM SUMMER TO FALL II (study)
arylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 120 (w) x 80 (h) x 2 cm
lower/right part of the triptych

* * * *

>The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.<
~ George R.R. Martin

>…and all at once, summer collapsed into fall.<
~ Oscar Wilde


 

BLOOD WILL HAVE BLOOD III
2018
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

I often mediate on Shakespeare and his ageless dramatic scenarios. I do love his very poetic but razor-sharp, brilliant psychological consideration of the human being. Remember Macbeth. Striving for power — political, financial, intellectual, sexual — ruled, rules and will rule the world. We aren’t more than a stone’s throw away from former generations and centuries and from Scotland in the summer of 1057 (the death of king Macbeth).

Macbeth to Lady Macbeth:
„It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.“
(Shakespeare: ex Macbeth, act III scene IV)

Colours are especially inspired by the 2015 British-French-American Macbeth film adaption, directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. In Act V Macduff sets Birnham wood on fire and smoke and ashes blowing towards Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth dies on the battlefield filmed in impressive orange and red camera shots.

 


 

IN THE QUIET AND PROMISING MORNING
2018
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

Await my return from the starry sky
In the quiet and promising morning
Watch for me on the mountain
I will search for you until I find you
Through hundred worlds and lifetimes
To the edge of the world and beyond.

* * * *

“One must still have chaos on oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche


 

AT DEEPEST NIGHT WHEN THE SEA IS CALLING
2018
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

At deepest night
When my soul is aching
At deepest night
When the sea is calling
You can find me in the dark
And whatever fate will bring
No light will break my ark

* * * *

“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.“
~ Vincent Van Gogh


 

THE DARK SIDES OF OUR EMERALD GREEN MOON
diptych 2018
acrylic and oil on canvas
250 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm

About my inspiration and thoughts:

Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody. But without darkness how would we know when we walk in light? Darkness is an antagonist of happiness and has its role to play. And sooner or later we accept our dark side, understanding it will help us to move with the light. Too much of everything can destroy us. Too much darkness can kill, but too much light can blind. Knowing both sides of our soul helps us to move forward in life. There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes and the darkness that is restful. There is a darkness of lovers, a darkness of losers and a darkness of warriors. Victory or defeat, rebirth or melancholy, time before sunrise or afterglow of the sunset, it becomes what we wish it to be. It’s not wholly bad or good. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve our steps the next time. You can love the light for it shows us the way, yet we should welcome the darkness because it shows us the stars, the universe and the depth of our emerald green moon.

The diptych combines following 2 works and should „read“ from left to right:

„LEAVE A CANDLE IN THE WINDOW“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
left part of the diptych

„LONG AS I CAN SEE THE LIGHT“
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm
right part of the diptych

* * *

„Truth will come to light.“
~ William Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, scene 2)

„The instruments of darkness tell us truths.“
~ William Shakespeare (Macbeth, Act 1, scene 3)


 

THE SUMMER WHEN WE WERE QUEEN AND KING
2018
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

You and me
Do you remember
Sweet love, so pristine
Days and nights of summer
When you were queen

Me and you
Do you remember
Sweet love, poisoned sting
Chill and heat of summer
When I was king

Sometimes
I still remember
Sweet love, fading bloom
Inside a doomed summer
Your face and your perfume

CB/2018

* * * *

In other and very well-known words:

“I will remember the kisses
And how you gave me
Everything you had
And how I offered you
What was left of me.”

~ Charles Bukowski


 

A PLACE CALLED GOLGATHA
2017/2018
100 (w) x 120 (h) x 2 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

Golgatha was, according to the Gospels, a site immediately outside Jerusalem’s walls where Jesus was crucified. “They came to a place called Golgotha.”(Matthew 27:33) Wracked in pain and accompanied by Simon of Cyrene carrying his Cross, Jesus walked his last steps on earth to a place called Golgotha. Golgotha is an Aramaic word for skull (the Latin term is Calvaria where the name Calvary comes from). The reason why it was called „skull hill“ is unknown, possibly because it was the site of executions and/or the hill was shaped like a human skull. The exact location is unknown but mentioned in all four canonical Gospels:

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull (Matthew 27:33).

Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull (Mark 15:22).

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left (Luke 23:33).

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull – which in Aramaic is called Golgotha – (John 19:17).


 

WE’LL MEET AGAIN SOME SUNNY DAY
2017/2018
150 (w) x 120 (h) x 2 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

The inspiration: I was thinking about losses and goodbyes in dark times. But we shouldn’t give up. There is hope even in a hopeless world to find the way back to the light and love. The British song “We’ll Meet Again”, composed and written in 1939, says it all. This song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight and their families and sweethearts.

* * * *

We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
‚Til the blue skies
Drive the dark clouds far away

(lyrics by Ross Parker/Hughie Charles 1939)


 

 

AS IF THE MORNING SUN ENLIGHTENS THE SEA
2017/2018
acrylic and oil on canvas
120 (h) x 100 (w) x 4,5 cm

From the beginning
Until the end
Of time
Of love
Of us

Stand by me
As if
Your morning sun
Conquers the mist
Enlightens my sea

Be with me
As if
Your warming ray
Enriches the dawn
Gold-plates my day

From the end
Until a new beginning.

* * * *

“The sun is new each day.”
~ Heraclitus

“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World.”
~ Christopher Columbus

 

 


 

IN THE LAND OF GODS AND MONSTERS
2017
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

In this land called soul, nothing is free of doubt, every step is a highwire act, a difficult balance between heaven and hell, between good and evil, right and wrong, a neverending trip between summer and winter, night and day and between Olymp and Hades. I remember Friedrich Nietzsche and his thoughts: ‚God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives; who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?‘

* * *

„To live is to suffer,
to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.“
Friedrich Nietzsche

 


 

REMEMBER THE DREAMS WE ONCE HAD
triptych 2017
acrylic and oil on canvas
380 (w) x 120 (h) x 4,5 cm

Years passed, seasons came and went. Do we remember where we have started from? The younger years, our hopes and dreams, all the golden life goals? Do we stand the ground, do we still believe in us? And what about the answers that life won’t give us? Do I remember my dreams, the dreams I once had, and do you still believe in me?

I share the opinion of the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944), that paintings contain not only a creative message as single piece. You can look at them also in a major conceptional context. This triptych REMEMBER THE DREAMS WE ONCE HAD combines three new and essential of my works (2017) from aesthetic standpoints as well as with regard to contents.

* * * *

LARGE-SIZED PAINTINGS.
LARGE-SIZED TRIOLOGY.

The triptych combines following works and should „read“ from left to right:

left part:
IN THE LAND OF GODS AND MONSTERS
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2017, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm

center part:
AWAKENING BENEATH AUTUMN SKIES
acrylic and oil on canvas, 2017, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm

right part:
IN FLANDERS FIELDS II
arylic and oil on canvas, 2017, 120 (w) x 150 (h) x 4,5 cm

 


 

IN FLANDERS FIELDS II
2017
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

I do believe in the importance of history. History can tell us anything about men and politics and power. This painting deals with the subject and absurdity of war. There was one very important and bloody phase in World War I (1914 – 1918):

4 years war at the Western Front in Belgium in the fields of Flanders. Hundred thousands, enemies and friends, they lost their lives in trench warfares and buried in the Flemish earth. They called it „The war to end all wars“ (sometimes also „the war to end war“) and it is a very famous term of World War I, created in August 1914 and originally used in an idealisitc way. Young men in the trenches believed in that phrase, and it gave apparently a sense to all the bloodshed. This land tells their story – till this day. There’s also a museum in Ypres/Belgium. And there are all these red poppies in the fields as a reminder of the lost souls. The British officer John McCrae wrote in May 1915 the most famous poem about the killing fields of Flanders: IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

* * * *

„In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row…“

(composed by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium)

 


 

AWAKENING BENEATH AUTUMN SKIES
2017
150 (h) x 120 (w) x 4,5 cm
acrylic and oil on canvas

“There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.”
― Paulo Coelho (ex: The Fifth Mountain)