My grandma told me I should become an artist back in 1969. Whatever she was trying to tell me, it’s one of my earliest memories.
After a brief period of encouragement from my art teacher in the 1970s, I didn’t really return to painting until I was in vocational training in the 1980s, without pursuing it as a career. I had the opportunity to devote myself to the subject again for a while in the mid-1990s and around 2005. Having focused on the essentials since 2015, I’ve continued with it.
I paint in oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel, and value the properties of charcoal for quickly capturing an idea. I work from my own sketches, increasingly from other materials (photographs and film images). Preparation is often done digitally, sometimes using modern digital tools (AI). I create reliefs, sculptures, and statues in plastic or clay. My style: Realistic… actually, hypernormal. Subjects: Previously still lifes, portraits, and structures, now scenes of all kinds. Details and proximity to the object or scene characterize many of my paintings. Special scenes often require explanation.
I don’t consider myself self-taught. I’ve had many teachers, but only a few good ones. I’m not an occasional painter either, as I earn my living that way. Since 2005, I’ve been professionally and financially independent, with plenty of time for painting. Whereas before I only dabbled, now, focused on the essentials and ultimately free from adversities, I have few more important things to do.
I want art to remain a constant in my life. That’s why I’m active in ‘Kunst im Norden‘ an artists’ association from Angeln. Here, I receive constant challenges and inspiration. I find exchange with like-minded people. We colleagues support each other in pursuing the path we’ve chosen.
Born in 1964 in Uelzen, raised in Nettelkamp, and after “excursions” to Hamburg and the Lower Saxony countryside, I have been living, working, and painting in Flensburg for several years. That’s where I “should” stay.
Jens H. Westermann