Christina Maria Altounis

As a daughter of a German pedagogue and a Greek ship mechanic, she saw the light of day in Cologne in 1980.
The multi-mix in her blood is also noticeable in her paintings. 
spirited & full of hope
colorful & powerful  
fresh & happy  
valuable & noble
soft & gentle
sensual 

I am inspired by the fauna and flora, by humanity, life in all his facettes and sprectrum of emotions and the very different seasons of live.. joy, pain, griev, love, hope, lost, being found, crises, beauty, silence, loudness... . The colour spectrum and the beauty of the underwater world and the diversity of birds and flowers fascinate and inspire me. Sunrises and sunsets, rainbows and much more transport for me the expression of colorful beauty in perfection combined with gentleness or dynamic power. The wonders of creation. 
After a broken relationship in my early twenties, I used paintbrushes and colours for the first time. I painted with bright, strong colours, in contrast to my feelings at that time. A few years later, when I was in deep sorrow due to a serious illness of my mother, I painted bright works of art in fresh yellow and clear white. These artworks and colours have accompanied me over the past 10 years and have always given me comfort and hope. In my most painful moments I was able to experience how alive art is and how it serves and pleases my heart.
However, my present works come from a living and happy heart!
But of course Life happens, and I have unfulfilled desires, wishes, answers or I am sad about things like everyone of us.
I see people around me stucking in process, I see people and the world suffering, I see people hating.. and full of frustration. 
Through my paintings I try respond to these needs, unfulfilled desires or emotions and speak life into it.
That wishes and desires will be fulfilled, grief will receive comfort, ashes will turn into beauty, that love overshadowed hate and that hope comes in frustrating situations.
My painting makes the invisible, visible.
I experienced in life, that there is always hope! Even if you don.t see it or feel it! 
My past is also marked by the search for my vocation, which I can now discover and live. 
All the seeming detours - laughed at by many people - prepared me for my existence as an artist. For many years I felt lacking in place in the business world in which I moved. When I discovered my artist's heart, I knew... this is it!! That's all I want! 
I believe that every human being has a vocation in the cradle. Only when he discovers and lives these do the flow of life begin. 
My art, which originates from my heart, is supplemented by intensive self-study. In addition to private commissions for work and living space, I always work on my personal works.After working primarily with brushes at the beginning, I picked up a spatula from an impulse. This results in exciting and harmonious colour combinations, and even after a longer look at the work of art new small pictures, figures or symbols appear again and again. 
For me, the brush is an expression of gentleness in life. When I gently brush over the canvas with him, I feel a friendly and tender disposition that I need in my life and would like to pass on to others.

                                               

 Exhibitions

 

                                                 Exhibition on the theme of "Transformation" in Bad Homburg 2016, as part of the European Gathering of Artists

                                                 Le Tour Belgique "in Cologne October 2016

                                                 Le Tour Belgique "in Cologne, April 2017

                                                "Desire / longing / iini nui" in Cologne, 04.07.2017 until the end of September 2017 at COR interlübke, vianden - die Wohnkultur GmbH

                                                  "Springtime"  in Cologne 15.03.-26.04.2018  group exhibition with Jana Dettmer at the gallery "Kunststücke bei Dettmer"
                                                Kunibertsklinik in Cologne 01.06. -31.07.2018

                                                Cologne Dance Center

                                                Tanzschule Elegance seit April 2019

 

 

                                                 Intense Art class Los Angeles, Pasadena 04.06.-14.07.2018 Victor & Diana Atkins
                                               

                                               

 

                                                

 

                                                

 

                                                 Christina Maria Altounis (40), born in Cologne, lives with her 2 cats in a studio apartment in Ehrenfeld.