Usually, when opening up an artist's biography, you will find long columns of dates and exhibitions. Important museums and impressive gallery names, publications and essays.
As an artist, either you have an impressive vita or you don’t. As a result, some less well-known creatives partake in an absurd practice: faking their resume. It includes funny sentences like this: lives and works in Berlin, Hong Kong and New York. At least before Covid, this was the usual practice. It makes the whole profession look ridiculous.
The moment I realized I have to deal with chronic illness and will not be able to return to the pro art market, as I formally intended, I started to shift my point of view. Nowadays customers use exhibition and gallery information to decide if their money is worth spending on an artist or not. Which basically means that this sort of information attracts a specific kind of customer.
And I decided that most likely these customers are not the ones for me. You will have to decide for yourself if you like my work. What art is will be upon the generations to come. So I finally decided to let go of that concept and I will leave it up to you if my work is worth your interest.
If I was to remember the first time I fell for art, I wouldn’t have to dig deep. One of my first memories is my grandfather sitting in the living room, in front of his aisle, painting oils and copying the impressive masters of 17th century Netherlands. With his dark framed glasses, he was still very much ‘60s style. Painting silently and lovingly, petal by petal of these delicate roses and lilies.
Or I would recall my mum and dad standing in a small artist gallery in the old core of a beautiful historic Croatian village, located on a small hill, guarded by a statue of Saint Euphemia, on the mossy roof of an old church, buying two paintings, oil on glass. And me falling in love with a giant oil painting, which showed a giant skull, leaving my parents feeling horrified and shocked.
Or I would think of a day in the beautiful town of Salzburg, Austria. Visiting the “Residenzgalerie“ and glaring at 17th century still life oil paintings with lemons and cherries, sparkling in the museum light and almost magically coming to life.
My love for the arts started very early. Maybe at the age of five or six. It has not subsided since nor do I think it will ever end. It helps me breathe and feel joyful, whole and most often filled with belonging and sense in an often terrible and senseless world. Loving art and living the life of an artist is the most addictive and most pleasant and at the same time most frightening thing to do. All of it pretty much at the same time.
Art is a calling and a hidden door into another universe we, most of the time, do not have access to, nor are we usually able to touch the things which do live there. The artist is the magician who pulls these things through the wall of non existence and tries to make them stay here with us. As such, I always especially loved the statue of the magician in the Tarot garden of Niki de St. Phalle in Italy.
It’s like using a spell and once we experience this form of creating things and tapping into the unknown, we’re totally addicted to it. We do it as long as we live. There is a story about the artist and composer William Blake which states that he composed and sang songs while laying on his deathbed, totally at peace. He was happy and enlightened as he finally was able to see God in all his grace, the one thing he had longed for, his entire life.
Buying an original is the most generous thing you can do for yourself and the artist. The artist will be able to continue his work & his dialogue with eternity. You will be able to hold something into your hands which does not exist a second time here on earth. Even if somebody tries to copy your beloved piece, the work will remain a copy. And you know why? Because the very moment a painting is brought into this world, it is not only made out of the artist’s inspiration, his personal experience and a large piece of mysterious magic, but it is made of the artist’s most valuable thing: his lifetime and more importantly his life's energy. I really love the idea of the artist’s work as being a form of a time battery or time capsule and that we, as we witness the artist’s work, can tap into the energy stored in that work. What a miracle to have.
For a very long time I did not understand why it took me ages to complete pieces. Why I was not able to continue working when I felt burnt out. Why I had to paint slowly and lovingly. Why things I did paint had to matter. Why I had to care about them in a very special way. I finally realized topics could not be picked randomly. Things had to be dear to me and true and precious and in some way eternal.
I know there have always been people who made fun of me, because my work had not been modern enough, or not provocative enough. Neither political, nor socially relevant. I felt very odd for a long time. I started hiding after some rude comments by “pros“ in the art world or articles in the newspaper. But you know what? Last week I realized what my art had done for me, and I no longer bothered.
My artist's life is dedicated to making the most precious things visible; I am a silent witness, a lover of life, a wanderer, a seeker. Once I am gone, the treasures of my life will still be here. And I hope they bring light and life and joy to other people's existence, by celebrating the amazing encounters and insights we collect on our journey here on earth.
I am a trained graphic designer, illustrator and goldsmith. But the love of my life has always been and always will be painting and collecting and telling stories. It took me a long time to understand that my rebel nature did not allow me to settle in any of the mentioned ‚reasonable‘ creative disciplines. I am a painter and writer, (I wrote my first novel at the age of 14) - and I always will be. My family and I are relatives to the well known surrealist painter Max Ernst.
In the project section of this website you can find different projects I have been working on throughout the years. I have been working on illustrative commissions for museums as well as working with galleries and art consultants for about seven years, showcasing my art in single and group exhibitions in my home country as well as abroad.
In 2018 I was forced to pause my work for more then three years, as I was diagnosed with burnout and rheumatoid arthritis. In 2019, I published my first book under a pseudonym in a small independent publishing house.
Now in 2022, I am slowly coming back to my painting routine and shifting my attention to self marketing. It took me some time to realize that I still am a pro artist, despite the fact I am no longer able to participate in the „pro art worlds game and rules“ as I used to. I am no longer able to travel as much as required and showcase my work as often as it would be expected.
I spent a lot of time thinking about my work and my core values. Looking back, I clearly exhausted myself trying to prove that I am worth the marketing effort and that my work would stand out and would be recognized as important and socially relevant. In the end I realized I don’t care at all. I really don’t.
I decided to return to slow painting as this is what I do and what is closest to my heart. It’s the only way of being I know: feelings of peace, calmness, relaxation and safety. Feelings of being grounded and one with nature. This is what makes me feel alive. This is the mission I now return to.
I hope you find pleasure & calmness in my work. I hope it lights up your daily life. I really do care about my collectors & customers. I really appreciate you supporting my work by purchasing my works, by sharing my blog and by spreading the word. I hope you do stay happy & safe.
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