About me...
I was born in 1974 as the first son of German parents in the former Soviet Union.
As a toddler, I was quite sick. So it came to pass that I grew up with my loving grandparents in the countryside in a beautiful, natural mountain region, where I gradually completely recovered.
In this lonely, development-friendly environment, my artistic vein formed very early. Of course, I was also shaped by my whole family, who always valued and taught their old German roots and values such as accuracy, diligence, thirst for knowledge and creativity.
In addition to my extremely wise grandfather, my conservative, religious and very capable grandmother, who had many craftsmanship skills, gave me the first creative and fantastic impulses. She read me stories from her ancient yellowed Bible while I studied the old creepy woodcut pictures in it. This Biebel became my children's picture book. The pictures in it have inspired and driven me, so that I enthusiastically tried to reproduce them and at about 4 years I could draw quite well.
From the age of 5 I lived with my parents in the big city, where both of them had respectable professional positions. Meanwhile, I went to a all day kindergarten. At first I couldn't speak Russian. Therefore I was often separated from other kids and spent a lot of time painting and doing handicrafts in the director's office, who was a good friend of my mother's and spoke a little German with me. To my amazement at the time, a crucified, blood-covered Jesus was absolutely not in demand. It should mainly be pictures for the holidays, or simply to decorate the kindergarten. One or the other propaganda poster could not be missing of course.
I started school at the age of 6 and was now able to enjoy the full scope of communist education.
Fortunately, artistic education was very important in the Soviet Union and was promoted in art- and music schools. After regular school I went to an art school, which was a real blessing and a welcome variety from the omnipresent propaganda. I learned a lot here, for example: charcoal drawing, watercolor, oil, woodcut, relief, modeling clay, plaster sculptures, casting molds, etc. For a short time I even made a couple of friends, until after a total of 15 years of unsuccessful requests to leave the country, my family finally received the long-awaited permission to leave to homeland Germany in 1987.
Declared as class enemy and completely expropriated, we were finaly "released" to the FRG.
In Germany I finished secondary school, completed an apprenticeship as a construction draftsman (focus on buildings) and after a short period as an employee I did my military service in the Bundeswehr. In the meantime, my job was no longer in demand and was largely replaced by CAD programs and architecture students who worked for cheaper rates. I also knew how uncreative the draftsman work realy is and I didn't feel like it anymore anyway. So after serving in the armed forces. I worked in various craft trades for a while.
Subsequently, I completed a second apprenticeship as a web and graphic designer and worked from then on, initially as a freelancer, later as an employee at Deutsche Telekom AG. Over the next 17 years, I rose to become an IT manager with team responsibility.
After several psychosomatic illnesses and the late realization that in this soulless environment I am becoming more and more dull and the work is not good for me in the long run, I left the company in 2016 of my own volition.
After a period of mental and physical rehabilitation, I finally turned to my passion and since 2018 I work as a freelancer artist. In my works I deal with imaginative worlds and their precise reproduction in oil and acrylic on canvas. I think absolute freedom in my head is especially important, which is why I paint primarily for myself and only accept commissioned work if I like it myself.
For me, art is much more important than the artist. It clearly belongs in the focus.
I prefer not to be in the foreground.
