Carsten Wieland

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Hi everybody! I am Carsten Wieland – an artist and watercolor painter from Germany. I have been creative working my entire life, but I first had to quit my job as a freelancer to discover my passion for watercolors. After a good 20 years as a freelancer in illustration, comic books and computer game design, I decided to turn my back on commercial graphics in 2011 and from now on only deal with art out of pure passion. After a multi-year excursion into 3D photography, I rediscovered watercolor painting in 2015 and have created many hundreds of watercolors since then. The hobby quickly developed into more and today I give watercolor workshops, write books on the subject, shoot videos and take part in numerous exhibitions all over Europe. I find my motifs in my surroundings, but above all in my memory. Especially the old and abandoned houses that I discovered while traveling through the USA have become a recurring motif in my watercolors. My focus is not on the detailed reproduction of what I have seen, but on the reinterpretation, in which the original motif only provides the impetus for the creative process. Since 2018 I can also be found at various watercolor festivals in Europe and enjoy painting demonstrations in front of a specialist audience, where I can demonstrate my very individual watercolor technique. After filling hundreds and hundreds of sketchbook pages with small watercolor sketches of abandoned houses and fairy landscapes I painted my first full-sheet watercolor in April 2016. Although this first attempt was pretty clumsy I got an idea what watercolor should be: Freedom! And the painting process should be liberation of the mind and a pleasing experience. The spiritual experience during the painting process is much more important to me than a result of perfection. And I found out that the better the painting experience is the better the final watercolor will be. Painting in a large format allows me to bring my full body into a vibe and to enjoy a combination of physicality and spirituality during the creation process. When the brushes start to dance on the paper I know it will be a great experience. Although I love the motives I choose to paint I feel that it is much more important how I paint than what I paint. People tell me that I developed a pretty unique style in my paintings – but to be honest: I have never been thinking about my style. When I paint I try to let go all the thinking about this and that and I try to get rid of all my ambitions. There is enough time to be critical when a painting is finished – but when I paint there is only me, the brushes, the paints, the water, the paper - and everything that happens when these ingredients come together.