Democracy is increasingly faltering, and I began to worry about our existing democratic order as early as 2019. The UK was negotiating Brexit, some countries repeatedly eroded the pillars of democracy, and right-wing populists were gaining strength in several countries. 

 

With my current project "Sites of Democracy", I am therefore setting an example for democracy: I am painting buildings in which people live and work for democracy - in oil and on large canvases, on-site for several days. Over the course of the seasons, I depict the parliament and government buildings in different atmospheres. With my bright paintings full of vibrant colours, I want to express the hope for peaceful coexistence in a free, democratic Europe.

In the summer of 2020, I began to paint the Berlin government quarter as a symbol of the connection between East and West and an important cornerstone of the European Union in its present form for the 30th anniversary of German reunification. 

​​

This series "Sites of Democracy", including the European Institutions in Strasbourg, the Berlin and Bonn government buildings and the Sénat in Paris, was shown in May and June 2022 at the Society for International Cooperation (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) in Bonn, and from November 9 to December 14, 2022, at the State Representation of Rhineland-Palatinate in Berlin.

​

From September 19 to November 2023 the series was exhibited at the State Representation of Rhineland-Palatinate in Brussels, and exhibitions are planned at the French Senate in Paris, at the World Forum for Democracy of the European Council in Strasbourg and at the German Consulate in Wroclaw.

 

Support, loans and purchases

​

I received support for my project by the German Bundesrat, the French and Polish Senate, the German Bundestag, the Quirinal Palace in Rome, the Presidential Chancellery and the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, the Polish Sejm in Warsaw, the Solidarnosc Center in Gdánsk, the German Consulate in Wroclaw, the Representation of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate in Berlin and Brussels and the World Congress Center in Bonn.

 

Thanks to this support, I was able to paint - among other places - the plenary hall of the Bundesrat, the former plenary hall of the Bundestag in Bonn and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin from the terrace of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Representation. 
 

Furthermore, I was given the opportunity to paint the impressive "Escalier d'honneur" and the historic plenary hall in the Sénat in Paris directly on site, as well as the modern plenary hall of the Polish Senate.

Including the plenary hall of the Polish Sejm in Warsaw and the National Council Hall in Vienna, the parliaments are also represented with their political discussion and decision-making venues that are emblematic of Europe.

The Quirinal Palace in Rome as well as the Presidential Chancellery in Vienna enabled me to paint places unique to the history of democracy, such as the Quirinale Court of Honour and the Hofburg Palace in the series.

The Court of the European Union in Luxembourg and the International Court of Justice in Den Haag are planned, representing justice as a key element of democracy in the series.

 

In 2025, during the presidency of the Bundesrat of Minister-President Anke Rehlinger, the State Chancellery of the Saarland edited a catalog of the series „Sites of Democracy“, focused on the Weimar triangle France-Poland-Germany.

The Vice President of the German Bundestag, Yvonne Magwas, has supported the project by writing the epilog for the catalog.

 

My paintings were purchased, among others, by the former German President Christian Wulff, the Vice President of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and are on loan to the office of the Head of the Private Office of the President of the ECHR.

​

About my art

​

Born in Canada, I grew up in Germany and graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (ENSAD).

The intense training in observation, drawing and painting techniques I was able to learn during these 5 years studying in Paris have been a valuable basis for my work ever since.

The origin of all my art is the almost meditative fusion with my subjects - landscapes, architecture, atmospheres as well as the personality of people, due to the direct contact on site. 

To achieve this, the important means are not only sensitive drawing, analysis of lines, perspective and the dynamic of movement, but also the mastery of the immense variety of shades and complementary colours. An art I have studied thoroughly in the works of Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh and Matisse.

For over twenty years, I have divided my time between Germany, France and Mallorca. On the Balearic Island, through my paintings, I explored the light intensity and the stark contrast offered by intense sun and shadow, as well as the unique infinite range of nuances of the lush Mediterranean landscapes.

Among the designs inspired by the North, parks and urban landscapes in Berlin, Potsdam and Strasbourg are particularly distinctive. Be it contemporary or more classical architecture - I have always been particularly attracted by the impact, beauty and concept of buildings as well as their integration in its surroundings.

Travel atmospheres are present as well, such as those rendered by the coastal landscapes of Northern France, impressions of Venice, Poland or New Zealand.