Birger Dicke

Gerolsbach, Germany •

Artist (Drawing, Painting) •

Born 1964 •

Art and culture, as well as the preservation and continuation of traditions are the primordial soup of a civilization.

Dear visitor to my site, my real name, which I also use here as an artist, is Birger Dicke. I was born in May 1964 in Iserlohn, Sauerland, and have been living in Upper Bavaria since 2008, before that 3 years in Tyrol, in the Kufstein district. My "bourgeois" side actually has nothing to do with art, for some it is probably rather dry matter, because I am a trained businessman (I also practice this profession) and on the other hand I have a degree in mechanical engineering.
Even as a child in elementary school, Paintings by the old masters are fascinating and when I was painting I always said to my parents, "I also want to be able to paint the way I see you", because terms like naturalism, photorealism, etc. were not familiar to me then .
In elementary school I won several competitions that were advertised in the newspaper at the beginning of the 70s. My skills improved over time, I had a penchant for painting the Alps, first in watercolors, then finally in oils.
My membership in the local library, which is also useful for the school, gave me access to the material , which I "consumed" in the years that followed, painting with oil paints, first the reading for "Ottonormal- und Sonntagsmaler", which I very soon distanced myself from, then the real specialist reading for them professional training, especially for restorers, which then also found its way into my own bookcase over the years, plus the biographies of my role models, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer etc. I practiced the old Flemish 7-layer technique, which I still largely use today (es there are also abbreviations) in my paintings.
As a counterpoint (is it really that?) I've felt drawn to music for almost the same period of time as I've been painting in oils and so I've also had various keyboard instruments for which I have a musical education, various guitars and drums (both autodidactically) moved into my home and share it peacefully with the painting utensils.
I would be happy if the visit to my site was not unique, but its existence also to others
Goodbye and thank you for your time.