Marika Fünffinger

Painter- Germany

I have been working as a freelance watercolour painter and lecturer for 13 years. I was born and grew up in Hainfeld/Pfalz in my parents' vineyard surrounded by vines and our marvellous landscape on the Southern Wine Route. Perhaps it was not only my elderly grandfather (he lived right here, where my studio is now located) but also this vineyard landscape that inspired me.... I discovered watercolour over 25 years ago and since then this passion has never left me. For me, painting and being creative is one of the greatest and most wonderful secrets of life. A state of happiness during the creative process, an outgrowing of oneself. Anyone who has experienced this feeling becomes addicted to experiencing it again. This ability is sometimes greater or easier......and sometimes every effort is in vain. You have to get through these phases and keep striving to create your work with fervour and effort in such a way that it appears to have been created almost by itself, without the artist's intervention. For me, painting is an emotional process that is not only about the depiction or real reproduction of the motif, but also about the feelings that you experience during the painting process. I believe that the atmosphere, the mood I am experiencing at that moment, manifests itself in the painting and it becomes a ‘document’ of my thoughts and my surroundings. I am happy to have found painting.