Petra Schott

Petra Schott is a German abstract painter based in Frankfurt am Main. She worked as a lawyer and a judge before studying fine art at the Art Academy in Kassel and leaving the legal profession in 2014. She paints in oil and draws into the work with charcoal, often with her left hand. In 2023 she won the Jackson's Painting Prize and in 2025 she was an overseas finalist at the Women In Art Prize in the UK. She teaches once a year at Kunstakademie Eigenart in Bad Heilbrunn.

Just Like A Woman III - Oil, charcoal, ink on raw canvas

Q: Welcome back. A lot has happened since we last spoke. Where are you right now as a painter?

A: Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak about my work here once again. I have continued to develop my artistic language, although this has not led to any spectacular changes. Through daily painting, something shifts, because I myself am changing. It is an ongoing process of discovery. Perhaps the most striking aspect is that, by using charcoal, I try to bring painting, writing, and drawing together on the canvas. This breaking open of the purely painterly is a very exciting field for me.

Just Like A Woman VII (homage to Bob Dylan) - Oil on canvas

Just Like A Woman V - Oil and charcoal on canvas

Q: You won the Jackson's Painting Prize in 2023 and were a finalist at the Women In Art Prize last year. Do those moments change anything in the studio?

A: The Jackson's Art Prize was a great recognition for me. It was accompanied by an exhibition in London, and Jackson's also produced a short film about my work. External validation is important—not all the time, but every now and then. It's rewarding to feel that the work is being seen and that it resonates with certain people. The prize has made me somewhat better known. Otherwise, I don't think it has changed anything in my studio practice. I simply continue working and am pleased that many galleries are interested in my work, and that I also receive a lot of private inquiries.

Q: Womanhood is one of your recurring themes. Is that something you set out to paint, or does it just come through?

A: Yes, indeed, my experiences as a woman are important for my painting. Recently, several works have emerged in response to Bob Dylan's song "Just Like a Woman." The song moved me—it felt a bit like a journey into the past—and it inspired me to explore my own image of womanhood through painting.

It's not that I begin a work with the intention of capturing a specific idea of being a woman; rather, it simply flows onto the canvas. It is less an act of doing but more an allowing: I reveal what is within me.

When I paint, I have the feeling of being connected to something greater than myself. Painting is like opening a door. A theme stays with me for a while, and then I sense when, for the moment, it cannot go any further.

Just Like A Woman - Oil and charcoal on raw canvas

Q: You quote Arno Geiger: "Art does not save us from chaos but from order." What does that mean for you now, over a decade out of law?

A: I love this quote by Arno Geiger. For me, it truly resonates: in my art, I do not follow any rules. There is no pre-planning, no preliminary drawing, no fixed idea of what should emerge. It always begins as a journey through a great deal of chaos before something can take shape on the canvas.

In contrast, legal work is, of course, highly structured—a practice governed by systems, order, clear procedures, and many rules. It was a significant step for me to leave that world behind. The great freedom I enjoy now is only possible because I have fully committed myself to painting. It is no longer about right or wrong, but simply about allowing what I want.

Just Like A Woman IX - Oil and charcoal on raw canvas

Q: You teach every year at Kunstakademie Eigenart. What happens when you watch someone else wrestle with a painting?

A: Teaching, for me, is a way of giving back what I have been fortunate to experience. I don't teach very often, because I want to reserve most of my time for my own painting practice. But when I do teach, I really enjoy feeling that I can help others.

Many people are quite alone in their painting, so it's valuable to come together as a group for a certain period of time and engage in exchange. You see what others are doing, and everyone receives feedback. Sometimes it's small things that help free someone from being stuck or from identifying too strongly with a particular work. These are all challenges I know very well from my own practice.

Just Like A Woman II - Oil on raw canvas

Q: Where is the work going right now?

A: I simply want to continue—continuing my work, trying things out, experimenting, taking risks, and fully immersing myself in this process, which already makes up a large part of my life. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that, for me, it is a process of becoming whole and of healing, one that brings me deep joy in painting.