South African Artist Maren Scharein

About Maren Scharein

I was born quite a few decades ago in the northern most part of Germany. My earliest exposure to art was in my young teens when I visited the exhibition of Emil Nolde whose home was very near to my father's ancestral homestead. Nolde's bold motives and colors impressed me already then and I have since added many artists of varying genre and different nationalities to my favorites' list.

After leaving school I went to study at an art college (Muthesius Werkschule) in Kiel / Germany, not totally sure into which category of design I belonged. But before I could find out Prince Charming swept me off my feet and we raised a family instead. When I entered my fifties I found myself very dissatisfied with my life and it took me a while to figure out what was missing. When I finally did I was very sure that I wanted to paint generous paintings and wanted to be totally free on the canvas, no tutoring, no guiding or being told how to put a painting together! I wanted to do as I wanted to do! I knew already how to use a brush and mix colors, about proportions and composition and all the other basics and the rest was trial and error! I enjoyed it immensely and I agonized, still do both most of the time!

Oil paintings have always been my first love and it always will be, but when I was exposed for the first time to Aboriginal Art I was blown away. Which is what inspired my "dotted" paintings and although I now also do Mixed Media I always come back to an "odd dot" picture just for fun and relaxation as dotting along is very meditative and contemplative.

I am hoping that my paintings will express my love for art, color and shape, beauty and nature and people will enjoy it as much as I enjoy the journey."