​

for those who want to know

 

Two passions,

two countries,

two lives in one ...

 

I lived the first part of my life in Hamburg in northern Germany, where I was born in 1962. This part was the part of music and performing arts of all kinds:

Starting out as an organist at the age of 10, I was obsessed with the goal of one day becoming a great composer. As a result, my adolescence only lasted 48 hours a day: high school, accompanying dance classes in schools and at the Hamburg Opera - with John Neumeier, chamber music with cellist friends, composing ... and every night: Performance, Concert, Opera, Ballet or Theatre. And on weekends it was the Organ in the churches and the Boom with the Hits of the 80s.

This avalanche of events and activities allowed me to finally make my choice at the age of 20: I wanted to make my mark in the field of Anglo-Saxon Musicals. When I was 24, I directed "CATS" in Hamburg. Afterwards, I created 6 musicals, 3 of which were made, I directed 22 shows (Evita, West-Side-Story, La petite Boutique des Horreurs, Hair, Eating Raoul, Edith Piaf ....), I composed and arranged a lot of music for the theatre and for short films as well as the soundtrack of the film "Les médiocres". My job has allowed me to travel : 7 tours across Japan, working in London, Edinburgh, on cruise ships ... and in Paris.

 

And so I start talking about Paris - France.

This "second part" of my life began in 1976, when I was 14 years old, with a week in Paris.

Invited by the parents of my best friend I discovered this fascinating city in an exceptional way: Le père, a living encyclopaedia and an outstanding storyteller, opened my eyes to the life of Paris painters at every street corner. The "Moulin de la Galette" was no longer just a mill - it was Corot, van Gogh, Utrillo ... and it was beautiful - and the story of the boat Lavoir, the Ateliers, the Fusains ... he showed me everything and told me everything. It was a completely different avalanche than the one I knew in music, but it left its mark on me. - After this short stay I immediately started painting and I brought him each new scab so that he could tell me ... And he made me make some copies so that I could learn.

Since then - painting has always had its place in my life. To me it is more concrete, direct and spontaneous than music.

I painted when I had the time or when I really had something to express spontaneously. It was an emotional escape.

This love for Paris - which I discovered in 1976 - has only grown. I loved everything there! Just to spend a few days in its streets and to discover other places I found it normal that I slept in the Grande Halle at the Gare du Nord station, kissing my bike and my things so that they wouldn't be stolen. –

I was 20 years old -

7 years later the theatre of Paris called me to offer me a contract as a conductor for "CATS".

These 1 years ½ have allowed me to make friends in Paris -

then - the coming and going didn't stop and at one point a bad love affair made me discover the south-west ... still France - but totally different. I fell in love with the ocean and ...

Fed up with the turn that the job of conductor in my field was taking, fed up with spending my life in the darkness and dust of the theatres, I left Hamburg in 1996 to finally live in France.

Two years in Arcachon, straddling between engagements as a musical director in Germany and the painting I was selling in my lover's shop at the time on the Boulevard de la Plage - which enabled us to make some nice trips.

 Then - Montalivet in 1998 - and still proposals from Germany and also from Paris for musical engagements. –

Each time my heart cried when I had to leave the Médoc ...

2007 - at last ... I made the decision not to move any more. - I started to paint Montalivet in 1900, ocean views, the Cordouan Lighthouse... I built an old-fashioned stand, my neighbour found me an old cart (a russet) so that I could exhibit on the market here. –

And that's what I've been doing for 12 years now.

This is the second part of my life.

Since 2009, she has been delighted with my husband's presence despite the fact that he is a choreographer, which made me want to compose music for one of her creations.

The music can't let go of me!

Since 2012, I have been exhibiting twice a year at the "Foire à la Brocante" in Bordeaux and every summer at the market of

my seaside resort.

My second life is inhabited by the wish that what I propose may please some people and that apart from that - that I be left in peace.

I no longer feel like I have anything to prove, I never felt like proving anything. I never studied music or painting. I am only a maker ... and I dare to propose what I do ...

That's what I've been doing all my life.

If some people are impressed by the places where an artist has exhibited, ... My personal pride - since I will never have children, is manifested by the number of countries where my babies (paintings) are sold because one can be proud to have exhibited in Tokyo, London or NY in shabby galleries without selling anything ... and it doesn't mean anything.  

The music and shows I composed will die with me, but the fruits of my painting are already to be found all over the world ...

For my career in music I didn't have any diplomas,

 I don't have anything for painting either.

I do my best and

I just propose what I do ... that's all.