I was born in the village of Soemmerda, East Germany, where Russian ideology –particularly the denouncement of religion and individuality—dominated the status quo. At the age of 23, I entered the military to fulfill my country’s mandatory service requirements, and then spent the following six years in technical college earning degrees in tool making and construction. After working for a decade as a technician, my employer transferred me to the United States - a move that changed my life and made me into the artist I am today. This relocation gave me a new perspective, allowing me to harness a spirituality and creativity I had never before recognized. And so, despite lacking formal artistic training, I turned to painting as a way of expressing this new-found romanticism and attempted to capture nature’s beauty as I saw it. This piece, "Simplicity", is the culmination of my journey toward self-discovery and beauty.