My life began in Bremen in 1951. After several and not terribly satisfying attempts to find a “real job” (military training, studies in mathematics and law, as well as a brief stint as a taxi driver), I decided to take my ambitions and talents seriously and become an artist.

After attending university in Freiburg and Berlin, I moved to the small but pretty town of Oldenburg on the uneventful Northern German plains and worked in the studio of Marie Meyer-Glaeseker (1901-1983), an accomplished impressionist painter, who over a long career had mastered a wide and impressive repertoire of styles. Under her tutelage I developed the techniques which have come to define my painting: a highly realistic style fascinated by small details, light effects and surface texture. Sometimes I like to include subtle surrealist overtones in my work.

When my son was born I began experimenting with kinetic sculptures and mechanical art forms. Initially I built fairly simple structures, but with experience I became more daring and the, for want of a better word, machines became more complex. In the early 90s I even experimented with miniature steam engines. But with the advent of the LED, things became somewhat more complicated and exciting. To this day, my kinetic sculptures are mainly made of wood even though the march into complexity continues. I’m not quite sure what my “machines” actually are, or what they represent. What I do know is that designing them has given me endless pleasure and I hope that you will enjoy them as well.

These days I feel happiest when I’m working in both art forms. I now tend to divide my time equally between painting and building new “machines”.

Fotos und Repros:

• Norbert Gerdes
• Andrey Gradetchliev
• Helmut Lindemann
• Bernhard Weber-Meinardus