Art works in small format

1981 // Prisma

Miniatures in gold and silver
She has studied law, learnt journalism from the bottom up, and become an artist. 37-year-old Katrin-Sybille Schlüter loves change and variety. The same goes for her work. It might well be said that the oil paintings by the Mecklenburg-born artist have so far been "not very cheerful", but now she is making waves with a series of richly coloured miniatures.

"I just felt like creating something aesthetically beautiful, something you can take pleasure in," the Cologne-based ex-journalist points out. "These days we're bombarded with so much negative stuff."

So she got down to work on a series of what are now 36 miniatures and had them framed in gold and silver by two goldsmiths. The pieces appear as pots, brooches, colliers, pendants and mirrors, all adorned with precious stones. Prices vary between 1,500 and 5,000 marks.

The production of these miniatures is highly complex process. The pictures are created by means of a glaze-painting technique in which the paint is laid onto specially primed paperboard between four and eight times. "As a rule, I work on two or three pieces at the same time. They take me a week, working nine hours each day," explains the artist. Katrin-Sybille Schlüter is particularly proud of four landscape motifs. "They're especially hard to get right in this tiny format." Like all "minis", these are protected from damage by plexiglas.

Those who want a close look at these highly imaginative paintings now have the chance to do so. Katrin-Sybille Schlüter is showing her work from November 26 to December 22 in Cologne at the "Kunst und Psyche" Gallery.

Franz Jonen