17
‘When I graduated high school, I didn’t think being
an artist was a real profession. I first studied law
and became a lawyer. But painting was always there.
I believe that when you feel a burning passion for
something, you release energy and create things that
you wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve.
Inspiration is like a spring or a river. The next
flow of ideas always comes, but you can’t tell when.
It might be at night or while riding the subway. For
me, it’s mainly colour combinations, inner landscapes
or dreamscapes. It’s a feeling that I then express in
colours. I live and work in different places, but this is
my base, this is where I like to paint the most. It
doesn’t work everywhere. A house is like a canvas.
Mine has very high walls and high ceilings, all
in white, and the paintings are displayed against
this background.
I like to keep my furniture in the same spot. Once
it fits, it fits. It’s like a painting that you compose and
then is never changed. When it comes to furnishing,
I don’t follow a strategy: I like something, and it all
sort of fits together and just like a painting, furniture
can function as a time capsule. The moment of reation
has passed, but there was someone who painted it
or, in the case of furniture, who designed it. When you
see an art work, you recognise an intrinsic value, a
cultural context in mind. The author, the time and the
work merge into a single idea. That also applies to
classic furniture.’
Paul Schrader, first worked as a lawyer before
becoming a freelance artist. He lives and works in
Hamburg, Germany.
Paul Schrader has created
a studio and home for himself
and his art.
‘Painting is a very private process – you need to
feel secure and at ease. You need a place where
you can open up and let go.’
