We all dread those times when life knocks on the door and informs us that everything we know will now be different.
These fruitful times of "upside down" are often precipitated by a loss: the loss of health, a business or job, a partner or family member. The only requirement is that the loss be big enough to deliver us to our knees, to make us question our lives, and to exile us to a vast desert of uncertainty.
Mixed media artist Wolfgang Hermann calls these times transitions and their purpose renewal. In every part of your life, these situations feel the same - out of control and beyond one's ability to decipher cause or remedy.
For Wolfgang, the catalyzing transitional circumstance took the form of an accident in which he was left with a compression fracture of the spine.
An avid motorcyclist, hiker, and explorer prior to the accident, his days as a self-employed father and husband, art teacher and artist on the cusp of his next breakthrough had relaxed into predictability. He had just completed his first mixed media series collectively called, Images of the Day, which garnered a number of local showings.
Realizing that he needed to take control and dedicate himself to re-inventing his world, he set up a schedule and a place to creatively address his situation. He moved his "studio" space out of the office and into a transformed shed in the side yard where each afternoon he reconnected with his muse.
The goal became to explore inner and outer beauty versus self-judgment.
What followed was a new way of working with both art and life—a new approach that required him to listen and become aware of options. During this period of Renewal, Wolfgang began painting with his left hand and allowed color and form to present itself to the canvas. And when the piece was finished, it was moved to a wall where he would sit and contemplate what had been revealed on the canvas.
Wolfgang speaks of this period of his art as more impulsive, immediate and fresh with each painting moving quickly to form. Thus, was born the "Renewal" series detailing the 6-month journey to recovery of mixed media artist Wolfgang Hermann.
( text written by the wonderful Red Cameron)
And so Wolfgang's journey continues, into Art, into Life.
He's excited to share with you. Read his artist statement here, and contact him below.