Images for the soul
We begin the new year with a visual and mental journey into nature, visiting the Atelier Land Wasser Licht at Fleischhauerstraße 38. There, the artist Jens-Peter Tschuschke for an interview for Lübeck ZWISCHENZEILEN . We'll be discussing his art, his painting techniques, and his close connection to nature and the world around him.
A door that is always open
The door to Jens-Peter Tschuschke's studio isn't just ajar—it's practically an invitation. If one of the works in the window catches your eye and you see the artist sitting in his studio, his gaze fixed on the canvas, then you're more than welcome to simply step inside. Jens cherishes precisely these moments when curiosity blossoms into conversation. For him, art is a means to an end: a way to exchange ideas about life, to philosophize. "Art is indispensable," he says—and by that he doesn't just mean the artwork itself, but the connection that arises between two people through their dialogue about art.
Arrived in Lübeck
In 2020, Jens moved from Hamburg to Lübeck, a city he had long felt connected to. He had written his diploma thesis on the Gründerzeit district. The Gothic brick architecture, the proximity to the Baltic Sea, and the music: this triad drew him in like a familiar melody.
It all started much earlier, however, in Wilhelmshaven on the Jade estuary. Jens had been painting since he was a young boy. He talks about his childhood: being outdoors on the beach and the pier, the wind on his face, the view of the water from the harbor. He describes how the bow waves of the rowers over the glittering water evoked a meditative calm in him even back then—a feeling that most people can relate to very well.
Learning to see
His studies at the Berlin University of the Arts taught him how to see: perspective, space, watercolor painting. His first exhibition followed in Hamburg in 2005, with further exhibitions in Wilhelmshaven, at the Wadden Sea House, at the Cum Laude gallery at Humboldt University in Berlin, and at the State Parliament building in Kiel.
Oil painting was added to watercolors during Jens' creative process. I find it fascinating that the material on which he paints his oil paintings plays a crucial role. They are created on wood and raw linen. The structure of the surface already tells the artist an initial story. A grain reminiscent of the surf inspires forms and the development of the image.
From the very beginning, Jens knew one thing for sure: he didn't want to be just another face in the crowd. To this day, water is his strongest attraction. He's fascinated by waves, surf, clouds, and the sky in their ever-changing reflections on the water. Jens connects with his subject. Painting becomes a creative and emotional process, ultimately capturing a poignant moment. But in his studio, you'll discover that it's not all about water. When the sea isn't calling him, Jens creates paintings of his other great love, Lübeck's brick skyline. Gothic towers, gables, and facades bathed in light have captivated the artist.
Fixed stars above the water
Three famous role models guide his work: William Turner, Caspar David Friedrich , and Ivan Aivazovsky . What connects these three great artists is less a school of thought than a feeling: for them, nature is not a backdrop, but a space of the soul. Turner and Aivazovsky love the sea directly, while Friedrich often approaches it as an idea of vastness and introspection. Humans are small or entirely absent, while light, weather, and expanse play the leading roles. This is precisely where Jens begins: for him, a horizon is more than a line—rather, an invitation to infinity. And light becomes the true storyteller, visible in the water: in reflections, spray, and the fleeting shimmer between calm and storm.
Where the sea plays with colors
Jens loves to paint on the Brodtener shore: whitecaps, glittering stones, reflections of light, and the colors of shadows in the sea. For him, the water is a landscape of the soul – indifferent, threatening, and beautiful all at once. The freedom of the horizon, the murmur, the infinity. The ebb and flow of the waves: like life itself. One could truly philosophize about it for hours.
If you'd like to meet the artist, visit him on Open Studio Day in Lübeck on May 2nd and 3rd, 2026, or during Lübeck Museum Night on August 29th, 2026. Can't wait that long? Then make time for a visit when the studio door is open. Then you'll have Jens-Peter Tschuschke all to yourself. You can look and marvel. Let your thoughts wander. And who knows: perhaps you'll find just that piece of the sea – or a piece of Lübeck – that you want to take home with you.
