Heike
Gramckow

Dr. Heike Gramckow, lives most months of the year in Arlington, Virginia the rest of the year she spends in her home town Hamburg, Germany or is travelling. Born in Germany in 1954, she and her husband moved to the Washington DC area in 1986. She has a studio in both countries where she paints mostly landscapes and cityscapes; she also paints en plein air in the different locations she lives in and travels to. She is successfully participating in national and international art exhibitions and plein air competitions, participates in art fairs, is part of different art associations and has exhibited in several galleries in the Washington DC area and in Hamburg, Germany.  Impressionists, especially Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt, and Max Liebermann, have long been her favorite painters. Their use of color, light and shadow, as well as the fact that their beautiful paintings broke with was then considered high quality art, is what inspired her to try something similar in our times. Equally influential and shaping her style are more recent realism painters, especially Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. As a result, her style is modern impressionism with a touch of realism. Following the techniques of the old masters and impressionists, she paints in her studio or en plein air. Using brushes, palette knifes and other tools, she works in oil on good canvas and board, experiments with different surfaces, like mirrored Plexiglas. In 2018 she delved into detailed studies of Degas’ pastel painting techniques and expanded her portfolio to include a wide range of pastel paintings. The aim in her art is to create reflective impressions of the landscapes, monuments, buildings, objects and people around us that draw the viewers in and invite them to stay and reflect, using an element of humor, when applicable. The counterpoints of light and shadow, contrasting colors, are often central in her work, sometimes to show harmony, sometimes to depict contrast and different views.  Education Certificate in World Art History, 2017, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC.  Ph.D. in Law, 1994, University of Hamburg, Germany. Law Degree. 1984, University of Hamburg, Germany.   Justice Reform, International Development and Return to Art Heike painted from an early age, but began painting in earnest only until her late 50's. After moving to the US, she worked as researcher and consultant in several well-known consulting companies and the World Bank in Washington DC, assessing US crime and drug use patterns and justice system and policy responses to them. This led her to focus on management and organization in the justice sector along with effective policy development and implementation. Eventually her expertise was requested in the international arena, leading her to work on all continents and in over 50 countries as diverse as Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Japan, India, Nigeria, Argentina, Egypt and the UAE, Serbia, and so on. She taught university courses, provided training to many government officials, is widely published and internationally recognized as expert in justice sector reform. Throughout this time, she rarely had the opportunity to paint but she started to seek out artists in the countries she travelled to, to learn about their techniques and experiences. She gained a very different understanding of life in these countries through the eyes of artists, admired unusual techniques and acquired art across the globe.  In 2014, she decided a more balanced, creative approach to life was needed and plunged back into painting and art education and has been painting in earnest ever since. After teaching herself the basics of oil painting, she took courses at the Smithsonian Institute, the Art League of Alexandria and has painted with several well-known American artists, such as Glen Kessler, Diane Tessler, Greg Kessler, Ted Reed, Fred Markham, Jill Banks, Adrienne Kralik, and Patrick Kirwin.  Recent competitions, exhibitions, and honors include: Affiliate Artist, Circle Foundation for the Arts, Lyon, France. Artists and Makers, Rockville, MD, “Lavender Everywhere”, Group Show, September 2018. Gallery Clarendon, Arlington, VA, resident artist and monthly exhibitions, July 2018-March 2019. Levantehaus, Hamburg, Germany, invitational exhibition and curator, November 2018. Arlington Festival of Arts, Exhibitor, Arlington, VA, April 2018. Target Gallery, “Landscape”, March, Alexandria, VA, 2018. The Artists at Middleburg (Virginia), “In the Burt” (juried), February 2018; “Landscape”, (juried), March 2018  Competition winner, “Water and Seascapes August 2017”, and “Abstraction September 2017”, national juried shows held by the national Contemporary Gallery. Waterford Art Fair, Waterford, VA, October 2017 Arts in the Village, Leesburg, Virginia, “30 Year Vision”, October 2017. Gallery Underground, Arlington, VA, Global Perspectives (juried), August 2017. Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD, All member show, July 28,