About me
Sharing Balinese temple energies
in paintings with the world
Bali’s culture initially seems strange and exotic to most Westerners. But it is like every culture based on human experience and the desire to live a fulfilled life. Values and perspectives are still alive here today that have lost their importance or were never promoted in many western culture, including my own.
When I came to Bali my heart felt at home immediately, so I eagerly began to learn about my new home. I enrolled in language classes, made Balinese friends, and after becoming sufficiently fluent in Indonesian, moved to Bona, the small village in central Bali where I live now. During my first year I was fortunate to meet an English-speaking Shiva Buddha priest, who was able to answer many of my questions. I continue my spiritual studies with him to this day. Through my paintings and complementary stories, I want to share the cultural and spiritual enrichment that I have discovered.
“It’s said that when the Christian missionaries came to Bali, the Balinese were impressed by the kindness of Jesus Christ, and immediately considered including him in the Pantheon.”
Bali has a culture and spiritual paths that at first seem strange and exotic to most Westerners. But Balinese culture, like any culture, is based on human experience and the desire to live a fulfilled life. Even today, values and views are still alive that have lost their importance or were never promoted in the culture of my mother country.
When I came to Bali my heart felt at home immediately. So I started to learn about my new home. I want to share the cultural and spiritual enrichment in paintings and complementary stories.
“It is said that when the Christian missionaries came to Bali, they were impressed by the kindness of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they immediately considered including him in the Pantheon.”
My Mission
Mission & Balinese values
The western world has fallen prey to the madness of tasks and schedules. It takes strength, clarity, and conscious decisions not to bow to this pressure.
In Bali supporting each other and treating other people with patience and respect are high values. Holidays are days that are important for the community and provide an opportunity for people to relax together after the ceremony.
Balancing energies is also important. Many Balinese live in connection with the unseen world. Every day small offerings are made to say thank you – to the gods of nature, to all the gods, and also to the “lower energies” to maintain the balance of power at the place. The wish is not to eliminate disturbing or negative energies, but to maintain balance.
My dream is to inspire people, though my paintings, to work for their inner balance. It would be wonderful if people could be motivated to look deeply at their feelings, their own heart, or to listen to the words of the heart again … and maybe even take a pencil or brush to hand.
My History
How I came to Bali
In 2013 I travelled to Bali for the first time and was deeply impressed by the beauty, especially in the hearts of the people. I also saw how beauty is made visible through the Balinese arts.
The origin and basis of all art in Bali is spirituality. Stone carving, wood carving, gamelan music, dance, hand written lontar books, and the few paintings (paintings are difficult to preserve in the tropics), were mostly created for the temple, and for ceremonies in temples, private homes and royal houses. Embedded in the temple buildings, ceremonies and associated art is an intention. This intention is to make the coexistence of people, both among themselves and in relation to the invisible world, pleasant and respectful. The intention is also to prepare the ground for spiritual growth.
This connection between art and spirituality, which was also prevalent in Europe and many ancient cultures, touches me. I believe every artist is in the process of creating art from within their heart, or in a greater connection to everything that is. In Bali this connection is an open secret.
In my studies of art history, I was fascinated by spiritual buildings and learned to feel the energies of artworks i.e. the intention of the person behind them. Without a particular goal in mind, I followed my hunger for spirituality in art. Then at the beginning of the century while in a visioning workshop, I discovered I had a strong desire, which became a dream, to build a temple. This remained a dream until I was washed up on the shores of Bali, where my dream came true.
My life in Bali has fulfilled my desire for a place of spiritual growth in a circle of empathic and loving people as well as living within a lively spiritual culture. Now it is time to share this wealth.
My Mission
Mission & Balinese values
The western world has fallen prey to the madness of tasks and schedules. It takes strength, clarity and decisions not to bow to this pressure.
In Bali, holidays are holidays that are important for the community and provide an opportunity to relax together after the ceremony.
To support each other and to treat other people with patience and respect are high values.
Many Balinese live in connection with the unseen world. Every day small offerings are made to say thank you – to the gods of nature, to all the gods and also to the lower energies to maintain the balance of power.
My dream is to inspire people with the paintings to work for their own inner balance. It would be wonderful if people could be motivated to look deeply at their feelings, their own heart, or to listen to the words of the heart again … and maybe even take a pencil or brush to hand.
My History
How I came to Bali
In 2013 I travelled to Bali for the first time and was deeply impressed by the beauty, especially in the hearts of the people. It is also made visible through the Balinese arts.
All art in Bali is originally based on spirituality. Stone carving, wood carving, dance, lontar books, a few paintings (paintings are difficult to preserve in the tropics) were mostly created for the temple and for ceremonies in temples, private homes and royal houses. Among the temple buildings, ceremonies and associated art, however, is the intention to make the coexistence of people among themselves and with the invisible world, pleasant and respectful and to prepare the ground for spiritual growth.
This connection between art and spirituality, which was also prevalent in Europe and many ancient cultures, touches me. Every artist is in the process of creating art in his heart or in a greater connection to everything that is. In Bali this connection is an open secret.
When I studied art history, I was fascinated by spiritual buildings and learned to feel the energies of artworks, i.e. the intention of the person behind them. Without having a goal in mind, I followed my hunger for spirituality in art, then at the beginning of the 21st century I had the dream to build a temple out of nothing until I was washed up on the shores of Bali, where my dream came true.
My life in Bali has fulfilled the desire for a place for spiritual growth in a circle of empathic and loving people as well as for a lively spiritual culture. Now it is time to share this wealth.