The story of my art began in 1987. It was a journey of discovery which started in a field of darkness, but which gradually led me towards spheres of light and exploration. From the beginning the road that I travelled as an artist was both a reflection and an expression of my personal journey of discovery of the self as well as that of others; This remains an ongoing process for me, one which I feel will never be completed – but which is reflected in my paintings in a way that I could never express in words alone.Back in the days before I took up the paint brush I led a ‘normal’ everyday existence with a ‘nine-to-five’ job, which was fine in many ways, but deep down inside I was completely unfulfilled and my artistic expressive leanings as well as my soul were soundly asleep. I was simply not in touch with the deeper layers of my self – in fact, I didn’t even know these existed and they certainly played no active role in my life at all. This was all to change when I met Uli Jon Roth, an accomplished artist and amazing musician himself. Up to this point I had dabbled in oil painting and Uli strongly encouraged me to become a full-time painter, because he believed in my talent and pointed the way ahead. He also helped me to further develop whatever talent I may have had back then and gave me many pointers and guidance about how to develop my own artistic powers.It was a very big step for me to give up my job and financial security for the journey into the big unknown and it took up all my courage to overcome my initial fears. From that moment on, however, as soon as I had made that conscious decision, I embarked upon the most amazing journey of transformation.Painting offered me both an escape as well as a different perspective from the physical world, which I personally found a much less interesting subject. But it was not really an escape – instead, painting gave my soul a voice which had hitherto been silent and it gave me strength and healing. I have never looked back since.In this other world I am trying to express both healing and emotion through colours and shapes. I have always felt a strong affinity to the power of colours and I can feel the impact they exert on every fibre of my soul.Painting in colour feels to me like magically transforming the energy of light directly onto the canvas with each and every brushstroke – when I am working on a new image I often feel transported into different frames of mind and the whole experience gives me physical as well as spiritual joy.I hope that at least a little bit of those sensations gets captured in the ‘finished’ work and that it maybe even causes a similar feeling in those who are viewing it.I am well aware that my journey is far from finished and that I am always searching for new means of expression and to broaden my artistic horizons.
Susann Ohlendorf, December 2004back
..
Myspace Layout Generator by TheMyspaceLayout.com
