Speaking with Artist, Andrea Haase

”Versatility is my middle name” is a phrase that really sums up the work of Andrea Haase, a multi-disciplined creative from Germany. Whether she’s painting, illustrating or photographing, her work is absolutely stunning which is why she’s created an incredible collection or wall murals.

We were lucky enough to sit down with Andrea to ask her a few questions about her creativity, her process, her love of travel and much more. Keep reading to find out what she had to say or head to her mural page to browse her full range.

Hi Andrea - Can you start by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your life?

Well, I lived a normal life in Germany, with an office job, but that didn't satisfy me. I started studying interior design and graduated with a diploma. But then everything became boring and I wanted to travel and try a few other things.

Until then, I was more or less creative as a hobby, and a bit during my studies. On my travels, I started with photography. I lived and worked in Europe and overseas for a few years. At times I gave painting and creative courses in hotels and was able to live out my creative wants.

What’s an average day in the life of Andrea Haase like?

I wake up early, feed my cats, start working and go to bed at midnight. In the meantime, I feed the cats (and myself) a few more times, but actually, I work all the time.

In summer I might enjoy our garden for a little break or drive to the beach for a couple of hours...sometimes. But I'm an artist with all my heart and soul and it's hard to tear me away from my creative work.

Where do you find inspiration?

Actually everywhere. In nature, when reading a magazine, when watching a TV show, surfing the internet and sometimes inspiration just comes out of the blue.

You’re a master of many different artistic mediums. What would you say is your favourite?

Mixed media art!

I am not the greatest painter on earth, but I love to work with real paint, with textures, stamps, paper collages - like a child who is experimenting! And I do love my computer, the benefits of digital art and when I can mix my handmade elements and textures with digital elements. That gives me even more freedom to try things out, to change and to vary, from each idea new ideas arise.

With painting and illustrating, you create pieces from all sorts of different styles rather than working on one. How do you keep your work so varied?

Versatility is my middle name - It is simply a part of my personality.

In my private life, I always see everything from different angles. I can put myself in other people's shoes and look beyond my own horizon. I am totally curious about all kinds of things, question everything and am a master of improvisation. All this has an effect on my work.

Can you discuss your creative process from the inception of an idea through to its completion?

It’s difficult to say as it's really quite different. It really depends on whether I'm implementing a spontaneous idea or, for example, working on a collection for a customer who gives me certain guidelines.

One thing is quite typical for me: if you give me a white sheet of paper and a few pens and then say: create something beautiful - then I can't think of anything. But if you dump the wastepaper basket in front of me and give me a tube of glue and a ballpoint pen, I'll probably create a creative piece of art from that junk in a quarter of an hour.

So, related to my work, I see a picture, a texture, a bird or a pattern in my archive and then suddenly there's an idea what I could make of it.

Is there an art form you’d love to get into but you haven’t had an opportunity to yet?

I'd really like to be able to paint realistically

Besides art, what are some of your key interests?

I still love to travel, although nowadays I have settled down and really love my home, garden and the neighbourhood in our little village. Gardening also became a passion for me and is something that can drive me away from creating art sometimes.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?

If you don't really burn for it, do it rather as a hobby.

What’s the future looking like for you? Do you have any big projects on the horizon?

I make designs for many products, I like textile design, but also designs for t-shirts or stationary. But my passion is wall art. I'm working on producing my designs not only for private living spaces but also for interior designers and object planners so that my wall art motives are used for hotels, bars, restaurants and offices. I already have some promising contacts that I hope will become more concrete in 2020.