Paintings were always something I was attracted to, but I never could see myself as a painter. To stand in front of a white canvas with a brush is not my thing. I never studied painting nor had the skills to transform my thoughts into an acceptable art piece using any paintbrush. One day, being surrounded by forest and firewood (that’s where my studio is), I thought about woodcut prints. Not in a perfect Japanese way or how typical woodcut printers would do it. More in a simple primitive form, in general, the way I always approach all of my art productions. Using big wood blocks, I can construct a painting with prefabricated messages carved into the wood. The chunky blocks become a vocabulary I can use on and on. They all sit on a sturdy shelf in my painting studio. Whenever I start to work on a new canvas, I go through the blocks and choose the ones I desire right at that moment. The vocabulary is simple: raindrops, clouds, fires, grass, trees, and one human figure. I want to talk about the relationship between us and nature, especially when we can change the global environment in a good or bad way. The beauty of nature is all around us, and it is not about saving the planet; it is about protecting us from a bad ending. As we all know, the earth will go on for the next 4.5 billion years with or without us. We have a chance to make the right choices using our knowledge of the past and the smarts of current technology, which would theoretically be a perfect combination to do the right thing. However, having these rather depressive thoughts about the current situation and how we got so terribly out of balance, I enjoy the colorful process and the paintings. They should be a friendly reminder that WE ARE nature and a part of this fragile and beautiful world.

Please check out the works in exhibitions: www.olafbreuning.com/shows

These are only a few samples; please return to the homepage and choose “paintings” to see them all.