Stefan Winterle - (DE)

*1976 in Lörrach/ Germany
I started graffiti writing in 1993.
Being active in a small town resulted in consequences too fast. Troubles with police and law followed and so I had to take a break. During that time I started to paint on smaller surfaces. I found out that I cannot reach my desired quality with spraying directly on canvases. I knew I did not want to start with brushes, acrylics or oil and I`ve already had plenty of spray cans at home. So I did my first tests with stencils and that worked fine for me. I finally decided to focus all my energy on cutting and painting with stencils in 2000.

I love the process of painting of creating of and the idea of leaving something behind. Be it in the studio or on the streets. Stencilling has a very meditative approach to painting. The preparation of a stencil set takes a lot of time and patience. Time that I am using for analyzing the motif and to think about the colours I will use in a later step. Spraying them out is the fun time that comes later.

I find inspiration everywhere. By things that sorround me. Family and friends, news, politics and press articles, nature and city landscapes. A lot of moments can end up in a painting of mine.