Category: abstract paintings
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When the World Shatters
This article explores the systemic collapse of our modern world, where the high art of diplomacy is being replaced by the “right of the strongest” and international institutions are systematically undermined. From the razed olive groves in Gaza to the manipulation of global financial markets through leveraged options, the text examines how greed and the…
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Before I gotta go, go, go…
“Before I gotta go…” is an article about a new series on dreams, marking a deliberate departure from minimalism in favor of abstract depth. It introduces the concept of the “Oneiric Divide”—visualizing not the story of a dream, but the raw energy it leaves behind—and offers a glimpse into my upcoming dialogue on “Dot and…
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Don’t let the old man in
Don’t let the old man in is more than just a song title; it is a directive for maintaining an open spirit against bitterness. This article explores that mindset by contrasting striking political imagery with the artistic independence of my 2025 Yearbook, proving that staying young is a matter of attitude, not age.
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Tao and Zen again: Applying Eastern Philosophy to Contemporary Ink Painting
Tao and Zen, along with minimalism, became my focus during a forced pause due to illness. This short article shares how fever dreams led to abstract works that explore the tension between Yin and Yang—an attempt to artistically grasp our world, which has been thrown off balance.
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Autumn Reflections
Autumn Reflections explores the connection between poetry, calligraphy, and painting through a series of original semi-haiku.
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Terra Dystopia
Terra Dystopia, a new series of artworks, serves as the starting point for an essay on the core characteristics of a dystopian society, questioning how many of these once-fictional traits have become our reality.
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The Abundance of Modesty
Delving into Daoist philosophy and the pictographic wisdom of Chinese calligraphy, this article unpacks the ancient proverb that “Modesty Brings Abundance” (謙受益). Grounding this profound concept in personal experiences, the author reflects on how the humility of an “empty vessel” allows one to receive a true overflow of friendship, knowledge, and spiritual wealth.
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Cracks in the Silence
A deep dive into the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival under the theme ‘One Planet, Many Perspectives.’ This review journeys from the rituals of Papua New Guinea to the paradoxes of modern development, exploring powerful photography that confronts our world’s greatest challenges and finds a path to understanding, mindfulness, and ultimately, hope.
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State of the Art 2025
State of the Art 2025 is my contribution this year to an ongoing series of “self-portraits.” For years, these pieces have documented my creative journey, reflecting the current status of my work.
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Nothingness in Color
Nothingness in Color continues the thought experiment that began with the journey to the Zen master—evolving beyond monochrome, embracing color, and preserving the essence of minimalism
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Goodbye to the Winter
Explore the artist’s journey from winter’s darkness to spring’s light through abstract paintings. Learn how black paper challenges traditional Chinese painting concepts.
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Depression: A Journey Through the Long Winter.
Depression: A long winter is behind me. It felt endless, stretching on and on. While snowfall isn’t guaranteed every year, one thing I can count on is my winter depression. Let’s take a closer look at some works from this long winter.
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Meditation of the Zen Master
Explore the meditation practices of the Zen Master in this insightful article. Gain profound insights and discover the beauty and tranquility of Zen.
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Journey to the Zen Master
This is the second part of a three-part article on a Journey to a Zen Master. We encounter the living space of the master.
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The Journey to the Zen Master
This article explores an imaginary journey to a Zen master, represented through a series of paintings. It delves into philosophical reflections on Zen, using a combination of western and eastern artistic techniques to illustrate the transition from the real world to a spiritual one. The journey begins at a busy train station and gradually leads…
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Wabi Sabi and the Aesthetics of Imperfection
Wabi Sabi, a term relatively unknown in the West until recently, holds a special place in my heart. This article reflects my personal approach to Wabi Sabi, illustrated with my own works painted this year.
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Daoist Aspects in My Paintings
Today’s article is divided into two interconnected parts. The sequence of images, all recent works, illustrates my approach to the concept of Nothingness.
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What is Reality? What is Nothingness?
What is Reality? Embark on a journey through the realms of reality. Uncover the historical beliefs and scientific progress that have shaped our modern understanding.
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Visit of the old Zen Master and other Nonzens
Visit of the old Zen master is nonsense because there is no Zen master that I know. So I can’t visit one, so no one can visit me.
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Summer Inventory
Summer Inventory. As a good businessman should, I conduct inventory twice a year. During this process, I find items I had written off as lost or even things I never realized I owned.
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Can We Hear a Painting?
Can you hear a painting? The idea of paintings creating music has captivated artists for centuries.
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Emptiness, Space, and Depth
Emptiness, Space, and Depth: The Spring Collection. Selection of recent Artworks. Studies, sketches, paintings.
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break on through
The Doors, known for capturing exploration and the human desire to uncover the unknown in their music, embody the theme of breaking through to ‘the other side’. The 1970s era of experimentation with mind-altering substances, influenced by psychedelic art, has shaped graphic design. The artist, recently participating in exhibitions in London and Sao Paulo, reflects…
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Selection of New Works
Selection of new works: A small selection of recent works in different techniques.
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Between Calligraphy and Painting
Who Sows Calligraphy will Reap Paintings. Between Calligraphy and Painting: In order not to get too boring, this article will be the last one for some time in which calligraphy sets the tone. We have already heard quite a bit about this high-quality art form by now. A few more aspects will be addressed today…
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red dao and black zen
newly painted calligraphy. red dao and black zen: This article is about creating my series “painted calligraphy” [samples] with more details this time. Which can be a bit boring if you’re not fundamentally interested in the topic of calligraphy. I recently received a call from someone who had bought some of my paintings many years…
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Birthday present from Confucius and
one of the best love poems. Birthday present from Confucius: So I’m 70 years old now. So what?! Really – so what? How should I react? Emotional? Annoy me that I’m an old fart now? But I was an old fart last year too – and the year before. Don’t even think about it? This…
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old and new works
and thoughts and concepts. Old and new works – mostly new. And it’s about more than a few brush strokes. When Chinese people see my calligraphy, especially the one written in the traditional style (portfolio), they usually shower me with praise and emphasize that they could never do it that well. The second part of…
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day dream job
and some remarks. Day dream job: Little boys, especially those of preschool age, often aspire to become firefighters or police officers. However, I’m not sure about girls’ future career aspirations. I’m also not sure what my vision was as a 5-year-old. Probably a demolitionist, since my father was one at the time. When I came…
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Between Here and There
and the Fever-night-creeper between here and there: The topic of this post first came about in reflection on dreams and waking up. One could consider “Here” as the normal state and “There” as the dream world. When we awaken, we are still surrounded by fragments of dreams, and we are between “There” and “Here.” Where…
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and the beat goes on
recent artworks. recent artworks: It’s not that there’s nothing to tell, nor that I don’t have enough new pictures to show, but I’m quite busy with a few projects. These projects require a lot of time and attention, so I’ll be posting less frequently in the near future. As someone who writes posts here, you…
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a kinda yin-yang too
Not many would immediately recognize the yin-yang aspects in the two images I present today. As an extra there is a short video about the presentation of Zen images.
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When the let-go period is over
Presentation: I have chosen a work that probably does not immediately cause a “love at first sight” feeling to everybod. Plus a book presentation video.
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works on meditation
Works on Meditation: According to a study experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. Of course, many thoughts seem very important to us. After all, they come from us.
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Another new morning for the same old sod
As I wrote in my last post, I treated myself to a 3-week spa stay. Well, a vintage car will no longer become a racing car. But a refurbished classic car also has its appeal, it is said.
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Elements of Rhyme
Elements of Rhyme pays homage to Dominik Alexander, an impressive living writer with the courage to innovate and a penchant for quality and individualism.
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Summer swan song – or the bitter croaking of ravens
The summer holidays are just around the corner and the last article concludes for the time being on the basis of 2 pictures with the theme of emptiness.
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Gaining by letting go
Gaining by letting go is again a formulation that could come from the field of esotericism. I have previously indicated that this is not an area in which I am proficient.
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about letting go
Flow and letting go. New series of abstract images on the subject of omission.
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Cucumber cutting, abstracting and –
A few quick notes on our world of perception, from slicing cucumbers to the feeling of diving. And about abstraction itself.
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environment and nature topic
From time to time I dedicate myself to the topic of the environment in my paintings. This is also the case in this picture, which addresses the topic of environmental destruction in a special way.
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Back from Egypt trip – stones and sands
My Egypt trip came to an end. Here is a small selection of a series of photos taken by the sea in Hurghada and area. Stones and sand were the focus.
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The children’s book of my last post
The children’s book of my last post is not a project in progress, it’s just a play around. If you want to play, play with us! Now that I have started with the topic and my last post on it received such positive feedback, I would like to write a little more about it. Thanks…
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state of the art 2023 – a step further
I have been painting a self-portrait every year since 1976 and call this ongoing series State of the Art.
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Project in the home straight – almost
I mentioned some time ago that after the Theodor Storm book, I was invited to illustrate another book by Prof. Wolfgang Kubin.
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gone they are
Depression: I would like to take up a topic again today and I promise it will be the last time – for this year. I recently wrote about my winter blues – and they’re gone! Hopefully sustainable.
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Winter is here – with its gifts
Even if it’s difficult to predict something these days and even if a lot doesn’t last: my winter depressions are as certain as the back taxes. Nearly. The tax-back payment is more reliable in terms of time.
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How an idea takes root and persists
Poetry from the sky: Something has stuck in the back of my mind: characters that float down from the sky like leaves or something similar and write a poem at the same time.
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Because it’s Wednesday again…
This and That and Everything: I’ve started 2 new series, one spilling over into the other.
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New Works for Old Series
A series that is particularly close to my heart is gestural expression. However, my progress in doing so is heavily dependent on how busy I am with calligraphy.
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Jean Michel Basquiat Exhibition in Vienna
There are exhibitions that give me impulses and make me want to paint myself. However, Basquiat is of such greatness that afterward I ask myself whether it makes any sense at all to continue painting myself.
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The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets
The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets and the Wolf hour are my last works on the dream cycle.
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three strikes
Three strikes: Today I would like to present 3 newer works and will not write much about them. The first is a play on Zen thought. In the sense of what was said above, it remains without further explanations.
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More nonZENse
Article about Daoism and Zen-Buddhism related to fine arts. Introduction of 2 paintings.
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two book covers and one dragon
Introducing two cover designs and a new dargon painting.
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Too young to die – too old to rock’n roll + scam alert
No, it’s not the title of my autobiography and no advertising for Jethro Tull. Much simplier.
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only one picture this time….
solid gold: It’s not that I haven’t painted a lot lately, but I’m making slower progress than usual. Some of the work is almost finished and then, only small things are missing, I break off.
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now and zen and later
A few decades ago, the term Zen moment was quite unknown in the West. Today it has become a consumer item and similar to the pair of terms feng shui 風水, most people do not understand what it is actually about.
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teaser for next exhibition
I’ve been needing a few short video clips for my work for a long time. With a little effort I was able to get something going myself, but then the result was too boring for me and I left this task to someone else.
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etudes
Etudes: If one looks up the English-language equivalent of the French term études in conventional dictionaries, the result is generally “studies”. Only when you translate it from a music-theoretical point of view do you come up with “etudes”.
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metaverse (V)
After my last post (metaverse IV) Schrödinger, his cat, you and I basically agreed that IS and NOT-IS can exist at the same time.
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metaverse (IV)
day & night and Schrödinger’s cat [1] I am very pleased that my postings on this topic are so well received and thank you for the general interest!After this posting today, one more on this topic will follow, but it will be easier to understand. Today it gets a little more complicated. When I…
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metaverse (III)
the beginning and the end Short preliminary remark If I just started with my thoughts, there would be a certain danger of someone shouting: “Hey, that’s not scientific!” Two preliminary remarks are therefore permitted. All our thinking is based on previously thought and mostly we deal with premises. Such as A $100 bill has a…
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Metaverse Project Started (II)
prologue and reflections After my last 2 postings on Kabul and Pyongyang (in the broadest sense also a kind of metaverse 😊) I would like to come back to my personal metaverse today and in the following postings to come. In the first post on this topic metaverse, I presented initial attempts to devote…
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studies for oil paintings
This week I did some studies on landscape, seascape and organic theme. 3 representative works are presented today.
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my kind of metaverse (I)
In February I started playing around with an idea, but I don’t know if it will become a series yet: It’s dedicated to the metaverse.
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diffuse light
When I started thinking of light in fine arts again about who influenced me it was, Lyonel Feininger came to my mind.
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snow and ice and corona
As I mentioned in my last post, January and February are not my favorite months, especially when it comes to painting. But I try to use the time, make drafts, do some calligraphy, play with ideas and try to improve my painting technique.
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new works in abstract surrealism
When it comes to painting, I’m most creative in the evening and after-hours. I can turn off the day’s events and concentrate fully on painting. However, I have to be careful not to work too long. It often happens that I start with enthusiasm and vigor and fall in love with a job right from…
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triptych variant
I presented a tryptich a few days ago. As is so often the case, the underlying idea has not been shelved for me and so I wanted to see how a variant could look like. So I created another work to replace one of the triptych.
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waltzing corona
My first painting this year is this triptych. I will take this as an opportunity to present my point of view, because if I can manage to explain the essential points clearly, you may look at Chinese art from a different perspective in the future.
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trying environment topic
I made 2 versions on a topic that has been with me for a long time: 2 vanishing points. The easiest way to depict this idea is in a landscape painting and so I chose this construction.
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new territories to explore
I haven’t painted as much for a long time as I did this year and my vigor, joy and urge to improve is unbroken. Now we are in the 4th lockdown and I take it very calmly – more time to paint…. I deliberately took a short break from my Corona series. That prevents me…
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corona and the sea
Graphing the phenomenon Covid-19 is a difficult undertaking in several respects, whereby the most important questions for me are: How do I make the invisible visible? How do I create a predominantly abstract image in such a way that the underlying phenomenon can be recognized? But above all, how do I convey the areas of…
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another one of those
Today I would like to present a newer picture and originally I had no intention of writing about it, at least almost. Why this?
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trying the big bang
At the latest when I started to approach abstract painting, and that was only a year ago – so I’m still pretty much at the beginning – an idea stuck in my head. ….
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Drafts for the Corona series and questions about them
For one of my exhibitions, which will be shown in Vienna next year, I chose the topic around covid-19. I think this is a subject that might be of some interest. We all suffered and still suffer from it in one form or another and so I thought that it might be of interest to…
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painting about a love poem
Lately I’ve started some work on clouds. The point is not to represent different cloud formations true to nature, but to give the clouds a meaning that goes beyond “being a cloud”. Poem by Berthold Brecht.
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calligraphy – painted
Since I’m not Chinese, one might wonder why I attach so much importance to this aspect of art. There are essentially 3 reasons: I consider traditional Chinese calligraphy to be one of the most challenging and superior art forms.
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power, elegance and savageness
I continue to paint a lot, but it’s getting harder and harder to surpass previous work. Maybe they look pretty much the same for some viewers anyway. For me, however, it is about certain issues that I would like to perfect over time.
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gestural painting a step further
The works from the series “gestural abstraction” now have content. No content in the sense that one is now figuratively led in a certain direction, but that psychological sensitivities or concepts from psychoanalysis are taken up.
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gestural painting, subconsciousness and archetypes
gestural painting, subconsciousness and archetypes in my series of gestural abstract paintings
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burning down the snow
There has long been a phrase in my ideas treasure chest: burning snow. I’m not sure if this is a creation from myself. Probably born out of my intellectual confrontation with Schubert’s “Winterreise”. It can just as well come from a poem or even a pop song.
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white black red
As in most of my work ideas from Chinese painting and calligraphy flow into them. I would like to take this opportunity to point out a special aspect that is of essential importance for the understanding of East Asian art: the importance of the non-represented, the nothing, the white.
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triptych finished
The title of this triptych is a mountain. In principle, it shows 3 mountain peaks that together form a mountain. Just like the Chinese character for mountain 3 represents mountain peaks.
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abstract landscape painting
Abstract landscape painting, ink on Yupo Paper
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paint away pain
Abstract landscape painting, ink and pastels on hand made paper. With Schubert as a source of energy.
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another couple of new works
Last weekend was another very productive one. I am working on a couple of series and was able to finish some work which can be added now. Like these painting of withered flowers, landscape, stones and abstract composition.
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a couple of new works
Last weekend was very productive. I am very satisfied with some of the works and would therefore like to present them.
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a step forward
For decades I have painted figurative. Almost 2 years ago I started to develop myself into abstract painting. Even if I haven’t found a definitive style, I’m pretty happy with my progress like this rocks and stones painting.