Nice to meet you!
I'm Johanna, an oil painter from Hamburg, Germany. Let me introduce myself and the story behind my paintings…
As an introverted soul...
...I enjoy the serenity of a quiet home as my sanctuary to recharge and love being close to nature. However, quite often I experience a contrast between how calm I seem to be to people on the outside and how I actually feel inside. Through my year long work-experience as a social worker in mental health I learned that I wasn’t alone with this phenomenon.
With my paintings I want to express this contrast in a positive way and reveal the beautiful rich inner world of the things we believe are "still“. Using bold strokes and strong colors paired with naturally harmonic shapes helps me to tell this story so my paintings can serve as an anchor to the viewer that delivers both tranquility and an invigorating feeling.
Fun facts...
...though I'm living in flatland I love hiking and spend my vacation with my dear husband in the mountains at least once a year
...I love animals but I don't have pets (at the moment... :))
...I like to dig deep: in my "former life" I've spent my days in a lab as a biochemist
...My favorite food: Let there be Pizza!
...I enjoy reading. (Beside the multitude, one of my current favorite authors is John Updike)
My Process
My oil paintings usually start with a stroll through nature where I get inspiration for my landscapes or going to the market in the morning and choosing fruits that spark joy. Then I combine them with beautifully colorful backdrops, set up a still-life in my studio so I can see all the colours with my own eyes and enjoy the poetic north-light falling on them. After creating a loose sketch, I start painting colorful straight away working from dark to light.
During the process I'm working impulsively yet slowly, leaving bold marks with patches of broken color. I finish the most important areas with juicy texture and by adding only a few well considered fine details, so the piece keeps the dynamic energy of the first brushstrokes that bring a feeling of joyfulness and optimism in to the homes of my collectors.