Stefanie Schulte

Placing shades of colour

on top of each other

is something that doesn't stop fascinating me.

When I paint, I am a child

playing  with coloured blocks.

I build something

by stacking up colourfields,

it is a construction in 2 dimensions.

27-August 2020

My coloured sketches

almost develop by themselves

while I work on something else.

There are moments

when I have a colour on my brush

that "switches something on" in me.

I feel I have to use it somewhere.

The sketches are waiting there, patiently,

lined up on a board,

and when I approach them

with that particular shade of colour,

it is mostly intuition that tells me where to place it.

27-August 2020

Many viewers try to "understand"

a painting.

A painting cannot be understood

or misunderstood.

Just let the colours talk to you—

and LISTEN WITH YOUR EYES!

03- October 2020

At the School of Art in Madrid,

one of the Professors said to me

"Haces y deshaces"—

"You do and undo".

I was quite shocked

and from then onwards I felt

as if this was a fault in my process of work— until I saw photographs of Sean Scully working in his studio.

I have always admired his paintings

but so far had not seen the creative process behind them.

It was quite a revelation:

In the photographs you could see

how his colour fields open and close,

how they get covered by different shades, how they keep moving and rearranging,

like a sliding puzzle.

From that moment on, I realised

that it is not a crime to "do and undo",

but on the contrary,

that I am free to do and undo

as often as I like.

Doing and undoing

creates the degree of freedom

necessary to advance a work of art.

There is nothing bad about it.

Sometimes it can take a while

to overcome the effects

of the wrong "educational" message.

7 September 2020

It is fascinating to observe

how some shades of colour collaborate with each other.

They don't need more

than their own interaction.

They don't really need us—

just let them play with each other.

Some of them get on

like a house on fire—

is there a chemistry between them?

16-September 2020

There is a very fine line

between too little and too much,

between boring and over the top.

I am trying to hit that thin line

and find the right balance

in which a painting is

complicated enough

to be interesting,

to keep the viewer busy and exploring,

but simple enough to

pass on a clear visual message.

12- October 2020

Blue—

there are colours

and there is blue.

Blue holds a special position.

The sky is blue.

The oceans are blue.

60% of our body is water.

We are on a blue planet.

I believe that our souls

are linked to the colour blue.

Sometimes we "feel blue".

Feeling blue—

a melancholy

similar to what we can experience observing the infinity of the ocean.

27-July 2020

What is the difference

between art and craft,

between art

and a piece of decoration?

Art is an ongoing discussion

between the artist

and the canvas,

a discussion

in which the artist tries to find

a way to express a visual message

that comes from within,

a message

that cannot be expressed with words,

a blurry vision of something

that will come into focus

on the canvas.

An artwork

is like a filmstill,

it is one isolated snapshot

of this ongoing discussion.

02-November 2020

In my opinion, an artwork has to speak for itself,

if it needs to be explained, it has failed.

On this page you can find some of my thoughts on art and the creative process,

without trying to "explain" my work.

27-January 2021

Last time I listened to

Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major,

BWV 1007,

I realised

this is exactly what I am looking for

on the canvas:

combining

harmonies and dissonances

of colour

in a way that is

simple at first sight

yet sufficiently complicated

to be intriguing.

14 September 2020

I have a blurry vision in mind

of what I want to find

on the canvas.

It is something that lies in between visual elements and emotions—

something that cannot be expressed in words—

therefor I try to express it in colours.

I know I will find it,

as long as I continue painting,

it is there—

between the colours and the canvases.

The way towards the finding

will be the adventure.

If I knew exactly in advance

what this aesthetic feeling

should look like,

I would only be repeating myself during my whole life and it would be boring.

15-June 2020

My paintings could be finished

so much quicker —

if it wasn't for the mixing of the particular shades,

which is, as Josef Albers said,

"(...) often difficult,

time consuming, and tiring.

This is true

not merely for beginners alone." *

It can take a long time

until the magic moment might come

when colours

suddenly click together

and bring each other to life.

"(...)we must find just the right colour which demonstrates the desired effect." *

18- February 2022

*Josef Albers,

"Interaction of Colour",

50th Anniversary Edition,

Yale University Press 2013,

pages 6 & 7

From Red to Purple —

and the rest in between.

We are surrounded

by millions of colours,

but it all comes down

to the rainbow.

The rainbow

is much more than a colour combination that lets children rejoice,

or a symbol for a way of life.

The rainbow is the essence,

and until we switch off the light,

it is there,

hidden in the white light.

We are not aware of this.

White is the sum of all colours.

As soon as we split up the white light,

it reveals its true colours.

Point out any given colour,

it will always relate

to one of these six.

Oct 15  2021