Biography
I was born in Germany on October 19, 1941 on an island in the Baltic Sea where the missiles were produced used in WWII.
My father was one of the leaders at Peenemuende along with Werner von Braun. So warfare and it's destruction
became part of my psyche, but was buried in my unconscious until I began painting from my imagimation. The Pentagon
brought my father (Dr. Ernst A. Steinhoff) and about 99 German scientists to White Sands Proving Grounds in southern
New Mexico at the end of the War. One year later, when I was 5, the families were able to join the scientists and we all lived
in Beaumont Annex, a converted army hospital in El Paso, Texas. After 3 years half the families moved to Alamogordo when
my father became scientific head of White Sands Missile Range (a center of the USA weapon complex) while the othr half
moved to Huntsville,. Alabama under Von Braun's leadership.
When we left Germany we were a family of 7 (with a son and 4 daughters, I being the third child), the largest in our group
of immigrants and were the only family given a whole barrack in El Paso. Two more sons were born to our family, one in El Paso
and the last in Alamogordo. Life was never lonely or boring in our family. We also all seven worked very hard: first at learning
English, then helping take care of the younger kids, while our father built our house with my oldest brother Hans and volenteers
among the scientists. Soon a cow appeared in our backyard, a calf and even a pig, along with a German Shepard (War insecurity?)
Three years later we had a real farm, 140 acres 'homesteaded' with 40 under cultivation, and a real dairy (my parents didn't trust
pasturization, and even less homogination), so we drank and sold raw milk, and had 'whipped cream fresh from the milk tank when
milk was abundant. We swam in the well tank and shoe skated in winter on the 'rainwater' tank; we three oldest roamed the
near by arroyo which lead to the mountains and my older brother and sister added holes to the abandoned rusty barreles with target practice. The local veterinarian boarded his horse with us,; I was disappointed that I was not allowed to ride it like my older two siblnngs.
This 'Eden' could not last; Nazi-ism made my father alert to corruption and political manuvering: when he decided he
could not remain at White Sands' he took another position with a Pentagon company in Santa Barbara. I was 15 and finished
High School there, on the one hand broken hearted to leave the small town high school where I had grown up, for a school literally
ten times as large. Thankfully it had a marvelous orchestra ( I played viola)), and Wally, one year younger , whom I knew from
Alamogordo, and I became life long friends. The other gift was the ocean: we swam and sun bathed by the hour. But we ended up
moving every two years: from Santa Barbara to Cincinnati to Los Angeles where I finished my B.A. at UCLA. While my family kept
moving until eventually back to Alamogordo, my father again heading White Sands, where ( krarmic -ally?) years later I discovered
my most prolific collector of my 'mature' period worked for my dad! (Not the cause of his collecting my work.)
My paintings reflect not only the dichotomy between endless water and the desert, between our origins
and our present and future, between abundance and scarcity, between our declared quest for (world) peace
and our constant practice of ´warfare´ (whether on cancer, drugs, terrorism, nations), our superior
´Democracy´ versus our laws like the ´Patriot Act´ that serve the creation of Fascism,
in general exploring real freedom, the pursuit of enlightenment and THE SACRED as the basis of all life.
My father was one of the leaders at Peenemuende along with Werner von Braun. So warfare and it's destruction
became part of my psyche, but was buried in my unconscious until I began painting from my imagimation. The Pentagon
brought my father (Dr. Ernst A. Steinhoff) and about 99 German scientists to White Sands Proving Grounds in southern
New Mexico at the end of the War. One year later, when I was 5, the families were able to join the scientists and we all lived
in Beaumont Annex, a converted army hospital in El Paso, Texas. After 3 years half the families moved to Alamogordo when
my father became scientific head of White Sands Missile Range (a center of the USA weapon complex) while the othr half
moved to Huntsville,. Alabama under Von Braun's leadership.
When we left Germany we were a family of 7 (with a son and 4 daughters, I being the third child), the largest in our group
of immigrants and were the only family given a whole barrack in El Paso. Two more sons were born to our family, one in El Paso
and the last in Alamogordo. Life was never lonely or boring in our family. We also all seven worked very hard: first at learning
English, then helping take care of the younger kids, while our father built our house with my oldest brother Hans and volenteers
among the scientists. Soon a cow appeared in our backyard, a calf and even a pig, along with a German Shepard (War insecurity?)
Three years later we had a real farm, 140 acres 'homesteaded' with 40 under cultivation, and a real dairy (my parents didn't trust
pasturization, and even less homogination), so we drank and sold raw milk, and had 'whipped cream fresh from the milk tank when
milk was abundant. We swam in the well tank and shoe skated in winter on the 'rainwater' tank; we three oldest roamed the
near by arroyo which lead to the mountains and my older brother and sister added holes to the abandoned rusty barreles with target practice. The local veterinarian boarded his horse with us,; I was disappointed that I was not allowed to ride it like my older two siblnngs.
This 'Eden' could not last; Nazi-ism made my father alert to corruption and political manuvering: when he decided he
could not remain at White Sands' he took another position with a Pentagon company in Santa Barbara. I was 15 and finished
High School there, on the one hand broken hearted to leave the small town high school where I had grown up, for a school literally
ten times as large. Thankfully it had a marvelous orchestra ( I played viola)), and Wally, one year younger , whom I knew from
Alamogordo, and I became life long friends. The other gift was the ocean: we swam and sun bathed by the hour. But we ended up
moving every two years: from Santa Barbara to Cincinnati to Los Angeles where I finished my B.A. at UCLA. While my family kept
moving until eventually back to Alamogordo, my father again heading White Sands, where ( krarmic -ally?) years later I discovered
my most prolific collector of my 'mature' period worked for my dad! (Not the cause of his collecting my work.)
My paintings reflect not only the dichotomy between endless water and the desert, between our origins
and our present and future, between abundance and scarcity, between our declared quest for (world) peace
and our constant practice of ´warfare´ (whether on cancer, drugs, terrorism, nations), our superior
´Democracy´ versus our laws like the ´Patriot Act´ that serve the creation of Fascism,
in general exploring real freedom, the pursuit of enlightenment and THE SACRED as the basis of all life.
Artist Statement
Pre-Millennium - humor and entertainment were the ‘safe’ ways to make a point, hide the power, guilt
and/or pain behind laughter. Now in the year 2001, a different response is needed: artists taking back their power,
being the visionaries they were through the ages, leaders ahead of their time, visualizing, portraying,
imagining.
With no apologies to all who subordinate art to ‘business’ -- to the bottom line (to say nothing of sacrificing it to greed), I openly re-establish truth and beauty as the primary values in my paintings.
Supported by a metaphor from the ancient system of astrology (having worked with it professionally for
a number of years), it gives perspective to our time by reflecting universal rhythms. I celebrate the Pluto,
Venus, Mars grand trine, bringing the god of transformation and rebirth (Pluto) with a burst of energy (Mars)
through beauty (Venus) into my paintings. Never a follower of art trends, now in my 60th* year
on our planet and my 30th** as a painter, my internal vision has grown through a lot of experience
and observation of the human condition. While hardly starving, I have struggled through long periods,
seemingly unnoticed and un-rewarded, and yet always rediscovering the exhilaration of exploring and
pushing the boundaries of the Unknown.
The events of the previous two years, first looking toward the Millennium through society’s fears and hopes, to the present moment of :the intensifying concerns with global warming and it’s symptoms: draught, fires and floods (the floods washing up our collective sins,
like the nuclear garbage dumped in the canyons all around Los Alamos), as well as the ever increasingly
disturbing awareness of the ineptitude, corruption and greed backed national leadership, find their way
into my work. The grand trine in fire is a metaphor for paintings that mirror the externalization of that
transformative energy (draught, fire and flood) on our planet. I have asked myself: how can a conscious
person ‘do’ art today, make another ‘product’ for the ‘consuming’ public when the earth is being choked
with the production and use of products? Is our civilization doing itself and all others in so there
will be no tomorrow (to say nothing of hundreds of years that the paintings I craft are meant to last
- an egocentric perspective certainly, used only to show one small personal example of the absurd
in our time.)
Perhaps this ‘doomsday’ perception, this hyper-vigilance, arises from my being born
when a nation was being destroyed all around me for its’ illusions, hubris and evil. Having
witnessed and experienced it once, faced death and the destruction of a whole society, I can too easily
see it happening again, though in a very different form. Sometimes working in my studio day after day,
I wonder if I am like Nero playing his violin as Rome burned? I embrace my destiny - a tulip given the
right conditions will bloom in the spring, even if the world ends the next day. I am an observer and
visual recorder, transmitter of imagery that goes from the surface (entertainment - still the easiest
access to the human heart and spirit) to the darkest depths of that experience, freeing myself from the
tyranny of antiquated belief systems that do not reflect Truth or reality. Art is an instrument of Truth,
helping in the evolution of consciousness, confidence and hope. Painting is my main way of protesting
the contradictions, illusions, even evils of our present culture and celebrating it’s virtues and the joys
of living, with subtlety, humor and beauty. No apologies!
[* and ** as I revise and edit this it is 2023 and I am in my 80's!]
and/or pain behind laughter. Now in the year 2001, a different response is needed: artists taking back their power,
being the visionaries they were through the ages, leaders ahead of their time, visualizing, portraying,
imagining.
With no apologies to all who subordinate art to ‘business’ -- to the bottom line (to say nothing of sacrificing it to greed), I openly re-establish truth and beauty as the primary values in my paintings.
Supported by a metaphor from the ancient system of astrology (having worked with it professionally for
a number of years), it gives perspective to our time by reflecting universal rhythms. I celebrate the Pluto,
Venus, Mars grand trine, bringing the god of transformation and rebirth (Pluto) with a burst of energy (Mars)
through beauty (Venus) into my paintings. Never a follower of art trends, now in my 60th* year
on our planet and my 30th** as a painter, my internal vision has grown through a lot of experience
and observation of the human condition. While hardly starving, I have struggled through long periods,
seemingly unnoticed and un-rewarded, and yet always rediscovering the exhilaration of exploring and
pushing the boundaries of the Unknown.
The events of the previous two years, first looking toward the Millennium through society’s fears and hopes, to the present moment of :the intensifying concerns with global warming and it’s symptoms: draught, fires and floods (the floods washing up our collective sins,
like the nuclear garbage dumped in the canyons all around Los Alamos), as well as the ever increasingly
disturbing awareness of the ineptitude, corruption and greed backed national leadership, find their way
into my work. The grand trine in fire is a metaphor for paintings that mirror the externalization of that
transformative energy (draught, fire and flood) on our planet. I have asked myself: how can a conscious
person ‘do’ art today, make another ‘product’ for the ‘consuming’ public when the earth is being choked
with the production and use of products? Is our civilization doing itself and all others in so there
will be no tomorrow (to say nothing of hundreds of years that the paintings I craft are meant to last
- an egocentric perspective certainly, used only to show one small personal example of the absurd
in our time.)
Perhaps this ‘doomsday’ perception, this hyper-vigilance, arises from my being born
when a nation was being destroyed all around me for its’ illusions, hubris and evil. Having
witnessed and experienced it once, faced death and the destruction of a whole society, I can too easily
see it happening again, though in a very different form. Sometimes working in my studio day after day,
I wonder if I am like Nero playing his violin as Rome burned? I embrace my destiny - a tulip given the
right conditions will bloom in the spring, even if the world ends the next day. I am an observer and
visual recorder, transmitter of imagery that goes from the surface (entertainment - still the easiest
access to the human heart and spirit) to the darkest depths of that experience, freeing myself from the
tyranny of antiquated belief systems that do not reflect Truth or reality. Art is an instrument of Truth,
helping in the evolution of consciousness, confidence and hope. Painting is my main way of protesting
the contradictions, illusions, even evils of our present culture and celebrating it’s virtues and the joys
of living, with subtlety, humor and beauty. No apologies!
[* and ** as I revise and edit this it is 2023 and I am in my 80's!]
Location
Tourists and collectors come to NM seeking the beauty of the landscape, clean air,
rural tranquility or at least less urban sprawl (we’re getting close to the edge), starry night skies,
and art ---and less consciously or totally unconsciously, danger. Why danger? Why seek it
and why is it here? These questions give rise to my art. Our culture has replaced experiencing
a vital connection to a living earth with constant entertainment and new levels of consumerism.
The underside or compliment of this constant artificial stimulation is boredom; it’s other component
is fear. We know we are out of touch with the earth and others living on it; we are greedy so we feel
the need to defend ourselves and ‘our’ property from those we imagine must want to take
it from us -limit our freedom to be so greedy, so we devote enormous resources to our defense.
Confronting Truth make one feel very alive. Hidden within the beautiful New Mexico landscape,
only 30 miles from Santa Fe is the citadel of the deadliest most destructive and most secretive
activity on earth: research, development and testing of the newest most deadly generation of the 21st
century: our bombs. The fires came very close to making ourselves our worst enemy.
My art brings this secret to the viewer.
rural tranquility or at least less urban sprawl (we’re getting close to the edge), starry night skies,
and art ---and less consciously or totally unconsciously, danger. Why danger? Why seek it
and why is it here? These questions give rise to my art. Our culture has replaced experiencing
a vital connection to a living earth with constant entertainment and new levels of consumerism.
The underside or compliment of this constant artificial stimulation is boredom; it’s other component
is fear. We know we are out of touch with the earth and others living on it; we are greedy so we feel
the need to defend ourselves and ‘our’ property from those we imagine must want to take
it from us -limit our freedom to be so greedy, so we devote enormous resources to our defense.
Confronting Truth make one feel very alive. Hidden within the beautiful New Mexico landscape,
only 30 miles from Santa Fe is the citadel of the deadliest most destructive and most secretive
activity on earth: research, development and testing of the newest most deadly generation of the 21st
century: our bombs. The fires came very close to making ourselves our worst enemy.
My art brings this secret to the viewer.
Figurative Realism -- Contemporary Figurative Realism
An artists' choice of expression is probably largely personality and culturally related. The
‘mainstream’, by definition, encompasses the majority of artists and has for
some time consisted mainly of abstract, minimal, and conceptual art, while
realism remained a small but active tributary (except regionally - Santa Fe,
Taos and the category of Southwestern art where landscapes, still lives and
some figurative art have been part of the regional mainstream.) My work is
neither regional nor part of the larger national mainstream but rather a
tributary of the larger national mainstream which ebbs and flows like a regular
stream in nature, recently encompassing more realism worldwide. Figurative
art is also experiencing a revival. Within the category of figurative realism
there are many subcategories, besides contemporary figurative realism, my
paintings have been categorized as Narrative Realism, Magic or Poetic Realism
and also fit the category of ‘Outsider Art’.
To use the human body in painting is the most difficult, because is has to be
‘right’ anatomically (anatomy was not taught in the schools I attended - UCLA,
Berkeley (even though David Hockney, a famous figurative artist, was on the
staff) so I had to teach myself.) The figure can be abstracted, simplified,
distorted or exaggerated expression-isticly. I do some of that, but one has
to start with knowing it, the old adage, knowing the rules before you break
them. I use figurative art as a vehicle for expressing my engagement with our
time and culture. While beauty and classicism are intrinsic aspects of my
paintings, they reflect deeper truths of political, social and archetypal
realities.
‘mainstream’, by definition, encompasses the majority of artists and has for
some time consisted mainly of abstract, minimal, and conceptual art, while
realism remained a small but active tributary (except regionally - Santa Fe,
Taos and the category of Southwestern art where landscapes, still lives and
some figurative art have been part of the regional mainstream.) My work is
neither regional nor part of the larger national mainstream but rather a
tributary of the larger national mainstream which ebbs and flows like a regular
stream in nature, recently encompassing more realism worldwide. Figurative
art is also experiencing a revival. Within the category of figurative realism
there are many subcategories, besides contemporary figurative realism, my
paintings have been categorized as Narrative Realism, Magic or Poetic Realism
and also fit the category of ‘Outsider Art’.
To use the human body in painting is the most difficult, because is has to be
‘right’ anatomically (anatomy was not taught in the schools I attended - UCLA,
Berkeley (even though David Hockney, a famous figurative artist, was on the
staff) so I had to teach myself.) The figure can be abstracted, simplified,
distorted or exaggerated expression-isticly. I do some of that, but one has
to start with knowing it, the old adage, knowing the rules before you break
them. I use figurative art as a vehicle for expressing my engagement with our
time and culture. While beauty and classicism are intrinsic aspects of my
paintings, they reflect deeper truths of political, social and archetypal
realities.
Medium - Egg Tempera
Egg tempera- Used exclusively in the Middle Ages before the discovery of Oil Paint,
it is experiencing a revival after falling into disuse for several hundred
years. Like many in our society my body has been exposed to more environmental
pollutants than a sense of well being can tolerate (oil paint began to make me
feel very ill) so some years ago I switched to egg tempera which is the purest
medium available - no solvents, only pigment (natural sources) and egg yolk
(from organic, free range (happy) chickens) and am regaining my health. While
everything is done with greater and greater speed today, including most art,
egg tempera requires time and patience and total concentration. Antithetical
to much current art that strives to make a ‘product’ which shows no sign of the
human hand, egg tempera is totally non mechanical, a totally human endeavor.
Lasting better than oil paint (not yellowing or darkening), after 3 - 5 years
of curing, egg tempera is indestructible and has exquisite, luminous
beauty.
it is experiencing a revival after falling into disuse for several hundred
years. Like many in our society my body has been exposed to more environmental
pollutants than a sense of well being can tolerate (oil paint began to make me
feel very ill) so some years ago I switched to egg tempera which is the purest
medium available - no solvents, only pigment (natural sources) and egg yolk
(from organic, free range (happy) chickens) and am regaining my health. While
everything is done with greater and greater speed today, including most art,
egg tempera requires time and patience and total concentration. Antithetical
to much current art that strives to make a ‘product’ which shows no sign of the
human hand, egg tempera is totally non mechanical, a totally human endeavor.
Lasting better than oil paint (not yellowing or darkening), after 3 - 5 years
of curing, egg tempera is indestructible and has exquisite, luminous
beauty.