Artistic Career

1946             born in Braunschweig on 17th June

1947             first engagement with drawing

1953             first engagement with photography

1962-1965    apprenticeship in precision mechanics at Rollei in Braunschweig
                    (first experiences in a photo lab)

1970-1974    studies at the “Pädagogische Hochschule” Braunschweig (educational                     college) (including art and its didactics)

1974-1985    employment especially as an art teacher in different types of schools in the                     district of Nienburg/Weser; additionally, photography teacher at the                     Volkshochschule (adult education center); participation in seminars at the                     “Hochschule für Bildende Künste” Braunschweig

1985-2011    employment especially as an art teacher in the district of Peine; additionally,                     studies at the “Hochschule für Bildende Künste” Braunschweig (including adult                     education, film and graphic print); member of “Bund Deutscher Kunsterzieher                     (BDK)”

since 2012    self-employed drawer / artist

For those who want to know more about me…

Well, my artistic career does not tell much, but enough for all who are not interested in the details, and I don’t want anyone to be bored. For all who are interested I want to add some explanations, extensions and details. You could say this is the small print that nobody needs to read (as some people think).

You can still see the traces of my mother’s lipstick (the only drawing tool I had back then) on some of our old family photos. I was probably one year old when the idea of drawing came to me and since then the only wishes for my birthdays and Christmas were drawing paper and pencils (pens had probably not been invented yet), and as soon as I was able to read also books.

I received my first photo camera, a Bilora Boy, on my birthday in 1953. It was similar to the well-known Agfa-Box, but with more elegant brown plastic and a better viewfinder. Unfortunately, my parents did not consider that developing films and photo prints also cost money, which is why my photographic activities were a bit limited. But this did not lower my motivation and I think through photography I learned to see in a different way at a very early point in my life.

I have always been drawing but was also interested in photography. In 1962, I began my apprenticeship in precision mechanics at Rollei in Braunschweig, which had three impacts on me. First, I recognized early that I was not going to earn my money with this profession all my life. Second, I benefitted from the possibility to borrow Rollei cameras for free as I did that continuously. Third, part of the education was spending two months in the photo lab which lead to my dream of my own photo lab at home (I made this dream come true). I was most interested in black & white photography and I think this also influenced my way of seeing and brought me closer to drawing instead of painting. Music had touched me too, so I bought my first guitar which I still own (in monthly instalments due to the little salary I received as a trainee), but my talent was nowhere near my expectations.

During and after my apprenticeship (maybe adolescent) conflicts with my parents came up, so after six months of working as a specialist I decided to join the German army for 4 years (in Nienburg/Weser which was far enough from Braunschweig). After 3 days I already had regrets about my decision. I had neither been ready nor able to subordinate to some psychopaths (there were more than you would think). For that reason, I was not promoted very high and ended up only as a lance corporal, but this did not bother me much. After one year they granted my wish to be transferred to the dog handlers (after noticing I was not good at anything they needed). The dog handlers were responsible for guarding an ammunition depot outside the military barrack, so this was more like a three-year vacation in a nice forest allowing me to be free to read, study (a private philosophy study and preparing for an exam to enter university – see below) and, of course, to draw. Unfortunately, I gave away almost all of my drawings (they were quite popular) and lost sight of them.

After my time at the German army I felt absolutely free, married (which somewhat limited the freedom again) and studied pedagogy at the “Pädagogische Hochschule” Braunschweig (my subjects were math, history and obviously art, also including psychology, philosophy, sociology and pedagogy). And so it went on with art.

Afterwards, I was employed as a teacher for 37 years (mainly as an art teacher), first in the district of Nienburg /Weser (where I also partly taught photography at the Volkshochschule (adult education center)), later in the district of Peine. During this time a lot of drawings developed on the side, because my profession did not allow much free time. As I lived in Braunschweig anyway, I studied a few semesters at the “Hochschule für Bildende Künste” there. Nevertheless, I only achieved becoming a professional drawer three years after my retirement. At this point I was suddenly right in the middle of my new (and most important) profession. Since 2014 I have been working intensely on my new drawings and since 2015 I have been able to show my drawings and etchings in many exhibitions.

For everything else you may read between the lines.