"One Year. One Place." My new series.

This year I'm doing something that feels both very small and quite grand at the same time: week after week I paint a new picture, always of the same place. This place is the Exerzierplatz nature reserve in Erlangen – a small patch of nature right in the middle of the city, just a few minutes' walk from my home. And although it seems so unassuming at first glance, it has become a real place of power and a great source of inspiration for me.

How the project found me

For a long time, I only went there to stretch my legs and clear my head… more "using" the place than truly experiencing it. But in recent weeks, I've been stopping more often, looking longer, pulling out my camera more and more frequently, and suddenly discovering subjects I'd previously overlooked. Eventually, I started painting… first one picture, then the next. Without much of a plan, I was right in the thick of it: the project had somehow found me. And now, continuing with it feels just as natural… week after week, as a series.

"I suddenly took countless photos and then wanted to paint them..."

Urban oasis and habitat worthy of protection

The former parade ground has been a nature reserve since 2000 – it used to be a military training area. At approximately 24.4 hectares, the area is rather small, roughly the size of 34 football fields. It protects nationally significant dry sandy grasslands, pioneer habitats, and ephemeral small bodies of water – a habitat for rare and endangered animal and plant species. And because all of this is fragile, respect is essential: During the breeding season (March 1st to July 31st), visitors should not leave the marked paths. I'm curious to see how I'll find my subjects to photograph during this time…

One place, 53 different ways

A small location as a limit might initially sound like repetition and restriction. For me, it's quite the opposite… I look more closely, notice changes, and constantly discover details I'd never seen before. And the longer I stick with the project, the clearer it becomes: the place is truly never the same. Light, weather, and seasons are constantly changing it. Sometimes it seems cold and unwelcoming, sometimes—with fog—almost mystical. And then there are days when warm light suddenly appears and softens everything.

What surprises me is that even in winter, this place reveals a whole world of color if you look closely. Not just gray and white… but brown in countless variations, blue in a wide range of shades, yellow as a soft glow in the sky, violet in the air. And I'm honestly curious to see what spring, summer, and autumn will add!

The mood determines what I paint with.

In this project, I'm deliberately not limiting myself to any one material. Anything goes: soft or oil pastels, oil paints, watercolors, gouache – sometimes even a mix. I'm also open to different surfaces: paper, canvas, wood… and the same goes for formats, from small to large. I let myself be guided by the subject, the atmosphere of the place, and, to be honest, a little bit by my own mood.

This is how you can follow the project.

On Instagram I show the creation of the individual pictures: short making-of videos, excerpts from the painting process and small videos taken directly on location.
Feel free to follow me on Instagram

Below or in my online shop you will also find a list of all the pictures created so far ; they can be purchased as high-quality art prints or postcards.
Visit the shop