Artist Simone Butz has discovered a new creative sanctuary in the Art Space Hall 14 studio community in Neubrandenburg, where she continues her passion as a self-proclaimed "year-round outdoor painter." The Dresden-born artist, who previously lived in Berlin for many years, has found both inspiration and community in her new artistic home near Lake Tollense.
Butz has established herself in the studio community located on the grounds of the former Repair Works Neubrandenburg (RWN), where she works alongside artists from diverse disciplines. The collaborative space houses creators working in street art, photography, X-ray installations, painting, sculpture, and concrete art, providing an environment where different artistic genres intersect and influence each other.
The creative pedagogue and educator, who once led a ceramics workshop at an elementary school, initially began painting as a self-taught artist before attending the Academic Painting and Drawing School Artgeschoss in Berlin. "There I learned the techniques for what I wanted to paint: depth, vastness, atmosphere," she explains, comparing these fundamentals to learning a musical instrument.
Butz's artistic journey took a transformative turn when she moved to Koldenhof, a village near Feldberg in southeastern Mecklenburg several years ago. The natural landscapes of the Feldberg Lake District have become her primary source of inspiration, with favorite paths that continually reveal new motifs. Her backpack remains perpetually ready for outdoor painting expeditions, though some compositions demand larger formats that she now creates in her studio.
"Here I implement what I learned outside," Butz says about her studio work. Her painting style is evolving from representational to atmospheric, focusing on capturing moods rather than mere images through the interplay of colors found in trees and fields, water and clouds, as well as sight lines and perspectives. She challenges common perceptions about seasonal beauty, noting that "even winter isn't as gray as we always believe."
The artist prepares her large-format paintings with compositional sketches and color studies, creating related works that explore similar themes. Her studio contains grouped paintings featuring dynamic cloud formations over vast landscapes, blazing fire pits, fields and rivers winding along forest edges, and peaceful gazes across expansive lakes.
Finding peace in nature represents a profound concern for Butz, who recognizes how precious and vulnerable this beauty is. Her work has already resonated with viewers through exhibitions in Triepkendorf, Koldenhof, and Feldberg, as well as at the recent art fair in Rattey, where a professional jury awarded her the announced art prize. She has been invited to create an exhibition at the Johanniter Church in Mirow for next summer.
Two immediate opportunities await visitors to encounter Butz and her work, along with other local artists in Neubrandenburg. The studio community and several guest artists will host an Advent Art Market at Art Space Hall 14 on Saturday, November 29, from 12 to 8 p.m. Additionally, the 3rd Neubrandenburg Art Fair will take place at the House of Culture and Education (HKB) at the marketplace on December 7 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
