Water tower in Hamburg, Germany
Cities and town centers have always been fascinating to me, and I draw most of my inspiration for my artwork from urban surroundings. I was born in Germany in the city of Düsseldorf, and I lived there until I was twelve years old. Our apartment was on a side street with lots of trees, right across from a little park with a playground, and I clearly remember playing there with my friends. When I was in the fourth grade, we had an especially interesting lesson about the history of the city, a vivid memory for me to this day.
Düsseldorf was founded in the thirteenth century, then occupied and under French influence on and off during the eighteenth century. The street names and architecture still told some of these stories, and I remember walking around the neighborhood with my friend Katja to find the traces of a history long gone. We would look at the façades of buildings built at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as newer ones built after World War II, and we’d fantasize about the lives and stories of people who lived there before our time. It became a game akin to a scavenger hunt to point out the most opulent balconies or doors and find interesting little details. We delighted in these things and considered them urban treasures, knowing that others might not notice or find such details as inspiring as we did (and as I still do).
Water tower in Hamburg, Germany
When I was a teenager, we moved to a small town and even though I loved living there, I always knew deep down in my heart that as soon as I had a chance, I would move back to a big city. I missed the energy and bustle, the noise, the fast pace.
When I was twenty, I moved to Hamburg, the second-biggest city in Germany. Yet again, I found myself walking around, awestruck as I looked at the buildings, street art, parks and more, always on the hunt for urban treasures that would make the city special for me. Those walks instilled in me a great love for my newfound home. Later, after quitting my career as a paralegal, when I found my true profession as an artist, I realized that a lot of the inspiration I craved and needed was right in front of me, surrounding me, offered as a gift from the city itself. Hamburg offered a unique and never-ending supply of sights and sounds.
Graffiti in Hamburg, Germany
A couple of years ago I made an even bigger leap, crossing the pond and moving to the United States. Now I live in Jersey City, where a fifteen-minute train ride takes me across the Hudson River into Manhattan—New York, New York.
I have explored my new city with great curiosity, always on the lookout for urban treasures—sights, photos, found objects, anything and everything that can work its way into my art. Being so open has also made my new city feel like home. I capture my walks (or “Strolls Through the ‘Hood” as I call them) with photos. I find it interesting and compelling to make note of differences between European and North American fire escapes, mailboxes, architecture; even the power and cable lines are linear in a different way. I have included many of these little details, along with broader views of the city, in my artwork, and I have incorporated them into my stencil and stamp designs as well.
View from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey to Manhattan, New York
To step back for a moment and sum things up, I was raised in a city, moved to a small town I knew like the palm of my hand, then moved to a big city, and still another, and with each move I discovered that all of the things around me were exactly what I needed for creative inspiration. That’s why this chapter on cities and town centers is devoted to using where we live and where we travel to create art.
It sometimes seems easier to find inspiration when traveling to cities other than where we live, whether they’re in our own country or on foreign soil. We notice things that are different; we’re more likely to document what we see with a camera, or in a sketchbook or journal. In our own city, the key is to open our eyes in the same way, to see what a visitor might find unique and inspiring, essentially playing tourist in our own town to trigger a visit from the muse.
Balcony detail in Hamburg, Germany
You might not live close to a city like Hamburg, Jersey City or New York, but wherever you go—whether it is to one of the biggest cities in the world or a town center in a rural village—be sure to explore the urban treasures that are waiting for you around every corner, and notice the inspiration available any time of day, any season of the year.