Contest 7 - Winner's Interview - Sandra Gebhardt-Hoepfner

Please tell us about your journey as an artist.

Creating something beautiful and empowering for other people and myself has always excited and driven me.

I have always loved painting and photography. Since my youth (I was born 1970 in Rendsburg-Germany), I provided those around me with paintings and photographs. Nevertheless I first learned something safe and became an industrial clerk, then a business economist and a mediator. I started to paint and spackle with oil on canvas, when I was 20 years old. Over the years I learned a lot from various well known artists in Hamburg & Schleswig-Holstein and found myself and my style. I pragmatically and calmly started selling my work. Due to the increasing interest, my hope and confidence grew and I could pursue my career in art. Today, I am a very happy and satisfied full time artist. I am selling my paintings worldwide.

What is your medium and why did you choose it?

I prefer to paint and spackle with acrylic or oil paint on canvas stretched on a wooden board. In my artistic beginnings, I used to enjoy working only with oil paints, but over the years I have learned to appreciate acrylic paint also. I love that a painting hanging on a collector's wall can change or increase the whole vibe and atmosphere of the room. I find it always a bit surprising and astonishing how the light turns out with paints on a canvas. It´s like you have the sun with all the nice reflections on the leaves, on the blossoms or in the water, in your home.

What was the inspiration behind this work?

I find my inspiration in nature, by the sea, on walks through flower fields and the wonderful landscapes near my second studio at the lake Wittensee in Schleswig-Holstein. There I find all my motifs for my flower paintings, landscape paintings and also the sea paintings with the North Sea and the Baltic Sea near by. 

Realising the transience of everything and for example the short wonder of poppies blossoms in the summer, I enjoy the flowers even more. I am interested in saving precious moments of nature a little bit longer on canvas. My paintings invite you into the magic and fairy tale of nature, with the lights moving between reality and what I see & feel.

Who is your favourite artist? Why?

Claude Monet´s water lilies were my first love. My first poster I picked by myself in my youth was from of a water lilies painting by him. The lightness, wonderful colors and his love for water lilies are absolutely amazing.

Also I would like to mention my love for the bold, velvety sensuality of the close up work of flowers from Georgia O´Keeffe.