Stephanie Hartstang
Vita
After a management career in IT, Stephanie, in her mid-forties, decided on a radical new beginning and did what she had always wanted to do: she dedicated herself to the visual and literary arts. True to her all-or-nothing nature, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the British Open University, where art history also played a significant role, and subsequently completed academy courses with renowned painters. She successfully completed the Studium Generale in Fine Arts at the Bad Reichenhall Art Academy under Ines Hildur (Abstract Color and Form), Viktoria Prischedko (Watercolor), Bernhard Vogel (Mixed Media in Watercolor and Acrylic), and Sabine Berr (Oil), and also painted en plein air with Wilhelm Fikisz, for example in Hong Kong, Ireland, and Scotland.
Stephanie's expressive watercolors are created through numerous layers, washes, and build-ups on heavy, high-quality handmade paper. Motifs are deliberately distorted, resulting in a unique and powerful interpretation of the subject. Stephanie's work is characterized by extraordinary color compositions and an often astonishing sense of depth.
The mixed media works are based on watercolor on handmade paper or various acrylic techniques on canvas or bookbinding board. Using materials such as ash, marble dust, Aerocolor, glue, collage, and oil pastels, the focus here, too, is on alienation and a unique interpretation of a subject or moment. The result is powerful works. Works that make a statement.
“Every subject must have touched me, triggered something in me,” Stephanie says about her pictures.
Working in dialogue
Together with her husband Thomas (a photographer), she creates dialogues between painting and photography. Selected subjects are jointly interpreted through both painterly and photographic means. During the creative process, the painter and photographer engage in intensive exchange. This ranges from the search for the subject matter itself, to the perspective, the composition, the colors, the light – in short, everything that makes the subject so compelling. They inspire and influence each other, while simultaneously defining their own boundaries. A dialogue.
Contact:
Exhibitions
- Conceptual exhibition "Changing Perspectives - Interchangeable Perspectives" with Thomas, the artist Maike Osterkamp and the photographer Jörg Böttger at the Schleswig City Museum (February, March 2026)
- Group exhibition "Transforming mind into matter and matter into mind", Art Academy Bad Reichenhall, Dec 2025
- International Prize "Artist in the Art History", January 2026, Dott. Francesco Saverio Russo, Borghese Palace Florence, Prize Winner
- Group exhibition "Arte Spazio Tempo", Galleria d'ArteVenice Dec 2025
- Group exhibition "Nostra Colletiva di Arte Contemporanea", RoccArt Gallery, Venice, Nov/Dec 2025
- Exhibition "(Cultural) Landscapes - a painterly and photographic exploration" with Thomas, Premium Mobile Kuntz Gallery, Gettorf, October 2025 - January 2025
- Exhibition "In Dialogue - Painted and Photographed" with Thomas in Kiel, September 2025
- Solo exhibition "Schleswig - painted and photographed" with Thomas at the Schleswig City Museum, August - October 2024
- Exhibition "Selection of Hamburg Motifs in Watercolor and Photography" with Thomas at the "Hamburg Art Gallery" in Haus Jupiter, Hamburg, February/March 2024
- Solo exhibition "Hamburg in Watercolor and Photography" with Thomas at the "Galerie im Levantehaus", Hamburg, January/February 2024
- Group exhibition at the Kunsthaus Kappeln, Dec 2023 - March 2024
- Open Studio Day, Atelier Südereiche, July 2023
- Exhibition “Watercolor and Photography in Dialogue”, Rosarium Glücksburg, 2023, together with Thomas
- Exhibition "Watercolor and Photography in Dialogue" together with Thomas at the Sörup Art Space, September 2022
- Open Studio Day, Atelier Südereiche, July 2022
- Exhibition at the Open Studio Day Karin Hansen, June 2022
Curatorial reviews
Mixed media work “Skyline meets Main”
The “strong color palette such as magenta and turquoise (creates) a strong emotional contrast to the cityscape (…) The technique is energetic, with structured brushstrokes and dabs of color that give the picture a sense of dynamism and lively, controlled chaos.
Skyline meets Main. It is an extremely suggestive, hypnotic work.”
(Dott.ssa Valentina Abbate – Critico e Cosulente die PitturiAmo
Translation from Italian
Watercolor “Port of Hamburg Eurogate”
“Light and color are the true protagonists” and do not serve to “objectively describe reality, but to express an atmosphere and a feeling (…)
The brushstrokes are quick and decisive, sometimes almost sketchy, creating a sense of immediacy and movement.
The artificial light emanating from the cranes and port buildings is rendered in intense and vibrant colors such as yellow, orange, and red, creating a stark contrast to the darker and cooler tones of the sky and water. This bold use of color generates an atmosphere of passionate activity and an almost electric sense of energy.
The composition is dominated by vertical and diagonal lines, represented by the imposing cranes and containers that draw the eye to the interior of the scene. Despite the visual chaos, there is a strong sense of dynamism and life.
The result is a work that, while depicting an industrial site, transforms into an intense visual experience. The artist did not limit herself to painting a landscape, but captured the spirit and energy of a bustling workplace, almost as if it were a living organism.
Dott.ssa Valentina Abbate Art Consultant PitturiAmo
(Translation from Italian)
You are interested in my Images?
Please write to me... 😊
