Flower IV – expressive floral art from the Smear Board series

A flower that does not follow rules

Flowers are among the simplest and best-known pictorial motifs of all. Everyone recognizes them instantly. Precisely for that reason, they form an ideal starting point for painterly experiments in the Schmiertafel series.

The form remains unambiguous. The execution, however, develops its own momentum. Colors overlap, areas fall out of balance, and spontaneous decisions leave visible traces. A familiar flower becomes an image between order and improvisation.

Expressive painting and luminous colors

Flower IV thrives on strong color contrasts and an open, gestural manner of painting. The individual petals feel familiar and yet surprising. Luminous color fields meet transparent areas, controlled lines meet spontaneous interventions.

The work combines expressive painting with a deliberately simple visual language, creating its own visual tension.

Smear Board – Familiar signs reconsidered

The Schmiertafel series deals with generally familiar pictorial signs such as flowers, smileys, trees or figures. They are simple forms that have inscribed themselves deeply into our visual memory.

In Flower IV, the flower initially appears as a familiar and positive symbol. But the longer you look at the painting, the more this self-evidence dissolves. The colors no longer follow a clear order; individual areas seem corrected, overlaid, or deliberately thrown out of balance. The form remains recognizable, while its execution increasingly opens up.

The work moves between playful lightness and the loss of certainties. It shows how even the simplest and most familiar signs can lose their stability without completely giving up their identity.

Original painting by Mark Hellbusch

Flower IV is a unique original from my studio in Wiesbaden near Frankfurt. Like all works in the series, the painting emerges in an open process between symbol, color, and experimental painting.

Discover more works

Alongside Flower IV, the Schmiertafel series includes numerous other motifs, including smileys, trees, figures, and flowers. Together they form a body of work that explores familiar signs, visible decisions, and the beauty of the imperfect.

Smear board,

medium formats and

colorful paintings

I have been a freelance painter since 1997 and have worked with a wide variety of themes in painting. While until 2007 I was occupied almost exclusively with expressive painting, today my focus lies more on experimental art. My personal background, as well as almost all artistic themes can be found under “About us.”

Studio in Wiesbaden – viewings by appointment.

Direct purchase and shipping also available.