On the first exhibition of the year in Germany the Hamburg Motorcycle Days a lot of visitors showed up. For me it was the première of my new project for the "Hanse-Weekend" Bikefestival in the city of Stade. It will be the second Bikerfestival under the brand name of  "Hanse-Weekend" in Germany. Already for the first event in Lubeck one of my paintings were force behind it. The painting for the city of Stade is a homage between the historical and the new age.This is tapestried by Vikings on one of  their conquer trips also to the region were today the city of Stade is located. Here they are riding with cultured bikes into the old-fashioned fort "Grauer Ort". The viking statue at the entrance with the Star Spangled Banner will be the symbolic sign for the unification of the old and the new world. The seagulls circling in the sky are a symbol for maritime atmosphere.

The moderator of the show, Frank Sander, insist on getting me up on stage to explain the paining to the audience. The result was a crowdy booth and the posters printed exclusively for the show were out in a very short time. For those who are interested in painting technics, this painting was made in old fashion manner, only with canvas, brush and acryl paint. The motorcycle models on this theme are mainly grafted Harley-Davidson bikes. This painting fits perfectly to the region around the city of Stade.

Beginning of June, from June 1^st until the 3^rd there will be a great Bike-Festival called "Hanse-Weekend" not far from my homeplace.For that reason I got inspired to paint a poster theme with a historical background. In the first century this region not far away from the Northern Sea and the  Atlantic Ocean was controlled by the "Northmen". Scandinavian tribes better known as the Vikings. They moved to different places here conquer foreign land to earn honor and power. Even today this tribe has a kind of mystic corona and there are a lot of storys and saga about the Viking people.The journeys with their ships so called "longboats" took them all across the Atlantic ocean to North America which is today the land of Harley's and custom bikes. So thats why I tried to build a link by creating this picture. A link between pre historical background and modern art of motorcycles. That's why the bust above the main entrance and the Star spangled Banner grows together to a symbiotic message between the new and the old things - the past and the present. This picture will be annonced the first time on the Hamburg Motorcycle Days, the HMT 2012 from January 27^th until January 29^th at the exhibition halls near Dammtor station in Hamburg.

Michael , represented by Segal Fine Art U.S.A.