email: stendel@globalnet.co.uk
website: www.claudiastendel.com
I graduated with an M.A. in English and German from Munich University. I have always been fascinated by the creative process. After many years working in publishing, attending Evening Classes and Workshops in art, I finally started my formal art training with a Foundation Course at Brooklands, Weybridge in 2001 and followed it with a HND in Fine Art at Reigate. Since then, I regularly exhibit locally. I am a member of the Chertsey Artists, Molesey Art Society, Walton Art Club, and Weybridge Society of Art and spend most of my time working in my studio in Chertsey, painting and printing.
My aim is to create beautiful works with poetic ambiguity to celebrate life. Anything, from the light on a fallen leaf to the shape of some scaffolding can act as a trigger. Colour and texture are important to me. So is the urge to keep the fluidity and immediacy of free drawing. I use mixed media, materials at hand and objets trouvés, allowing chance and coincidence to become a big part in the process.
I try to express spontaneity, vibrancy, and vitality in my work. My prints are monoprints or collagraphs which I often work into with mixed media. Each one is unique.