Van Gogh started painting in his late 20s but didn’t have success until the last two years of his life. Claude Monet was in his 40s when he began painting. Matisse created one of his most famous works at the age of 83.
Margarete Koepfer was 68 when she discovered her passion for painting.
Growing up in Germany
The year was 1939. Margarete was born in Karlsruhe, Germany. It lies at the northern edge of the Black Forest and is just a few miles from the Rhine River.
“I grew up in a poor, Christian family with two brothers who have since passed away. I have good and sad memories of that time. It was during World War II. Our city was bombed when I was six years old.”
She and her family ate in the soup kitchens every day. That was a happy memory. Margarete and her family loved the Navy bean soup with ham and tasting white bread for the very first time which she described as “almost like dessert.”
She left Germany in 1959 and moved to North Carolina for a few years before settling in Georgia. Her husband was a GI who brought her here. He has since died and Margarete later remarried.
She worked for 35 years as an insurance specialist before retiring. One day a friend from church asked her what her plans were in her next chapter. Her friend invited her to an art class.
Margarete’s reply was “I can’t draw or paint but if you will play golf with me, I’ll go paint with you.”
At the class she attended, the art teacher asked her if she had ever painted before because “you are very good.”
An artist in the making
Margarete went to that art class for three years and began posting her work on social media.
A funny thing happened on the way to the studio. She had so many people asking to buy her art, she no longer had time to go to class.
“It became my passion. I love it.”
Margarete hits the bed at 8:00 pm sharp. She wakes up while it’s still dark before the birds even start chirping, and heads upstairs to her studio, and begins to paint what she has dreamed up the night before.
“I love painting landscapes most of all. God blesses us with so much beauty and I look at that through different eyes. I try to capture the shadow and light in His creation.”
She takes walks most days, weather permitting, and when she sees something she loves, Margarete just has to put it on canvas. Probably why she has hundreds of paintings that she has started.
“I tell myself I’ve got to quit, but I just can’t,” Margarete explains with a chuckle.
Getting and giving inspiration
Her love of shadow and light in painting likely stems from her love of one of the Masters, Claude Monet. But her inspiration doesn’t stop there.
“I love modern art and the realists, even abstracts. Abstracts are relaxing for an artist because you just let the brush do its thing.”
What would Margarete tell a budding artist?
“Never give up. We critique ourselves but others see your art through different eyes.”
She also recommends not to go back and try to “fix it.”
Not slowing down
In the past few weeks, Margarete has painted more than 200 Christmas ornaments. So many angels and cardinals, “I feel as if I’m about to fly away.”
What to do to bring a sense of calm to her soul? Turn to paint a serene path in the woods she titled Peaceful Path.
“I never thought people would love my art the way they do. I always pray before I paint because I can’t do it without God and He never fails me.”
They say art is ageless perhaps, too, so is the artist. At 82 years old, Margarete Koepfer is still loving life and capturing God’s masterpieces.
*To enjoy more of Margarete’s artwork follow her on Facebook
