“Inner Development”

Here artistic intent and unexpected influences merge. This work, originally intended as a print of a bare foot in dried and cracked paint, took a fascinating turn.

A vibrant palette of green and yellow tones, infused with traces of nature. It wasn't my hand, but beetles that found their way unnoticed that left their mark here. The original vision has been reinterpreted by nature, and the beetles' damage is now a powerful symbol of change and unpredictability.

In this unexpected collaboration I find an organic metaphor for metamorphosis and change. The traces of the beetle metamorphosis, as unintentional symbolism, tells a story of transformation and the unstoppable passage of time. Art and nature merge into a unique aesthetic fusion of planned creativity and spontaneous influences.

I consciously decided against the original footprint in order to preserve the traces of the beetles. This was not a defeat, but a choice that intensified the dialogue between art and chance. The work thus becomes a timeless testimony to the beauty that arises from the symbiosis of human creativity and the power of nature.

In ‘Inner Development’ we see, how the creative process goes beyond the boundaries of intention. The unintended elements are not mistakes but sources of inspiration. This work invites you to discover the beauty in the unexpected and experience the transformative power of art.

The painting is a 20cm x 20cm egg tempera on canvas. The beetles are drugstore beetles (Stegobium paniceum). These have gone through all stages of development inside the dried paint. I collected them and cleaned the painting. It was then disinfected in the oven and prepared with linseed oil varnish. What remains is a detailed landscape that tells a colorful story of life.

That's how my painting looks now. I changed the title from "Terrarium Snake and Monarch Butterfly" to "Inside". That's an insssider.
❤️😉
It's almost complete. Later it gets a frame that represents a terrarium. Then, if sloth wills, it's finished.

The mysterious back of my painting. On the dark areas is a thicker color layer. Partly I dug into the layers with the brush, which then created these lines. As you can see, the snake consists of only a few layers of paint. Most of the layers I needed for the wood. You can't see the butterfly, because of the stretcher. The idea for the motif came to me during the painting. Originally I just wanted to paint my snake in a beautiful landscape. It's my first tempera and at the same time my first canvas painting ever.

I applied varnish to separate the tempera from the following oil colors. The tempera have given the painting its extreme radiance. Now I want more nuances, transitions and spatiality. I hope to achieve this by subtle overpainting with transparent oil paints. I'm curious if it works as imagined. Through the varnish cracks have become visible immediately. The painting already experienced some shocks since spring 2017. I'll try to hide those cracks a bit. Practice makes perfect, so I keep on learning by doing! But I definitely want to start soon with a new detailed painting and this one blocks me. It keeps me trapped, but basically I'm already happy with it and all the statements are already included. That's why I'll finish it now. It later gets a frame that represents a broken terrarium.

Tasmanian Tigers (2010, oil on paper)

Hardly any other animal has inspired my imagination as much as the Tasmanian tiger.
Other than their appearance suggests, they're more closely related to kangaroos than to wolves and tigers. They're considered extinct since 1936. I wish there's still a secret refuge somewhere.❤

This is one of three oil paintings I've done so far. Maybe even the first, but I don't remember that exactly.🙈 The painting doesn't exactly match this picture. I had to hire a spy to get a photo of it. It was a gift to a person I later broke with. So I had to work out the reflections before I could publish it.📸🕵

I've painted this picture for the last two days. It's pure fantasy. I just wanted to paint a beautiful landscape. In the sky hovers a cloud formation that reminds me of a huge condor. But you could also see a big hand moving across the sky (thx @liluchen945 for your inspiration!). Maybe this condor stands for a messenger, between imagination and reality? Aren't our hands exactly that? There is a way to the mountains, where the fog opens like a door. Maybe you have to cross the jungle and climb some mountains if you want to get to the clouds, where your imagination meets reality. The way is both, therefore only half represented. A giant would certainly make easy progress following this path. But only with imagination. Give the giant a chance! I call the painting "Open Door For Giants". The motive itself is about 10x7 cm, gouache on laid paper.

I just felt like changing the sky.

It's not finished yet. Maybe never will.
I'm furry, so no need to hurry. I paint for over 2 years on the picture. Recently I sat for about 10 hours again. It's gouache tempera on canvas (20x20cm). It means a lot to me, because I always wanted to paint a very detailed picture. I haven't painted many pictures yet. A few, but without satisfying me. The title is "Terrarium Snake and Monarch Butterfly". It describes my self-image, along with hurdles and desires that shape me. Every now and then I show you the progress.

My painting in detail. At some point, I'm sure to make bigger sloth steps again. By the way, I haven't painted many paintings in my life. I never liked it very much. In school I often got approval, rather than painting what the teacher says, to draw what I want. Later attempts I never found satisfying. Good that I've tried again. It's an exercise picture, I took the canvas with the least quality for it. Now I paint for over 2 years on it.

Video made with Adobe Procrastinate Pro. Sloth life!

Music: "Old Tabla Night" by septahelix
(2019 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0)

Listen to music, catch some rays, paint my never ending painting. 🎶🌞🎨 I've been working on this image since February 2017. It's still not finished. The meaning of this painting is about freedom. The title is "Terrarium Snake and Monarch Butterfly".
It started as training. That's my first tempera painting. Usually I decide to finish my work at some point. I imagined the picture and myself growing together. In the meantime I have freed myself from the idea of having to finish it at all.