The Early Years             

Claudine Hauke was born 1967 in a small town in Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany. Growing up in a business family let her become already early independent and responsible.  Her mother’s affection with the arts, her taste in fashion and interior design and her understanding of colors encouraged Claudine’s passion for expressing herself through the creative process- always supported by her family.

While attending High school her father died of cancer. This tragedy forced her, next to school, into the family business to support her mother. She finished High school 1987 with one of her majors being Art.

As a Young Woman

During the last three years of High school one of her majors was art. Here she gained basic knowledge of Art History, learned to interpret Art Work of various styles and epochs and received practical training in various technics. She discovered the possibility of expressing emotions through the process of creating Art.

After finishing High School she decided on a creative career path and entered an apprenticeship as a photographer. Next to the photography she got involved in conceptual planning and styling of photo series as well as still-lives. She explored the opportunities in the development process of black and white photos to the point of alienation and was fascinated with the abstraction of the original.

1991 Claudine singed up at a private school for Visagist and Special Effects in Köln/Germany. The following years she worked as a visagist, national and international for Fashion Magazines, Music Videos and Film.

1997 she got married to Wolfgang Hauke and returned to her home town.

After working again in the family business, she found a job in an Advertising Agency. Here her main focus was lying on the printing process and the technical possibilities within.

 In her free time she started working with clay and created her first series of Abstract Paintings (oil on Canvas) and also wandered in the field of impressionism human the first time.   She also finished a Wall-Mural for which she won the first price in the art award “Art without Borders”

Years of Traveling

2005-2008

Beginning 2005 Claudine followed her Husband to South Africa for their first years as Expats. While her husband was involved in setting up a new plant for the automotive industry she renovated an old house and  returned finally to her passion of Abstract Painting. Deepen her skills in different technics.

2008-2010

August 2008 they move to the USA (Indiana)

Here she created a small but substantial series of Abstract Paintings with pencil inlays, runners and bold colors which had a very industrial feel and were inspired by impressions of Chicago’s architecture.

2010-2011

Beginning 2010 they moved to Pune India. The diversity of the culture and the not ending impressions stimulated a series of photos; Portraits of the people and Street impressions.

2011-to Date

End 2011 they moved back to Johannesburg South Africa. Both need time to recover from malnutrition and from the exhaustion of the last years. They set up a new home and build a new house based on the decision to stay in South Africa permanently. The process of gaining the required paperwork and get settled took much more of her time as supposed.

Only then Claudine started to paint again with new enthusiasm. Being engaged in Photography in India, she now returns to her passion of Abstract Painting with new inspiration. She created a small series of paintings in which she uses blurring technics and structures next to each other, with both virtuosity and elegance.

She had to address the quandary that was inextricable interwoven with the development of her practice at the time.

Beginning 2017 she started a series of Paintings with which she felt more at home than ever before. Tirelessly she pulls layer after layer of oil paint on the canvas and creating so a series of big format paintings in a complex palette of colors. Through color and structure, which was created though many layers of oil paint,  a series of significance emerged out of this process – and in some ways not unexpected very energetic.