Biography 002

Christiane Fichtner - Biography

Christiane Fichtner is born on 25 May 1974 in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, in southern Wales. Her Welsh mother, Pots Maguire, and German father, Mark Fichtner, run a very popular bed and breakfast on the cliffs above the seaside. Christiane spends her childhood playing on the gravel beach with children from all over the world who are staying there on holiday.

In 1979 Christiane's mother dies giving birth to her son Ian. Mark Fichtner can't cope with the new situation and goes back to Germany. He leaves Christiane and Ian with their grandparents in Bristol. Christiane first attends primary school then a respectable boarding school for girls in Bath, where her artistic talent is first noticed. She has no contact with her father for years until he suddenly reappears in 1987 and moves with her and his new wife Franziska Plauß to Remscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), leaving Ian in Bristol. Christiane completes intermediate school (Realschule) in 1991 after experiencing initial difficulties with the language. During the same year, Christiane moves out of her father's house after they have a falling out and moves into a shared apartment.

She tries to study for a secondary school certificate (Abitur) but drops out after only three months. Christiane can't decide whether or not to learn a trade. She works in ice-cream parlors, in a second-hand store, and as a hostess at trade fairs in Cologne. In 1994 she goes to Kho Tao, a small island in Thailand, on holiday. There, she meets and falls in love with an Australian, Phil Mood. They stay together for four years. They build a small cocktail bar together right on the beach. Christiane makes bags out of shells for tourists and starts to draw. Her first motifs are clumsy attempts at portraits and abstract coral reefs and things washed up on the beach. At the end of 1998 Christiane becomes pregnant. A back-street abortion causes her to stay in a hospital for several months. There, she slips in and out of comas that sometimes last up to three days. In April 1999 Christiane leaves Phil and goes back to Germany. Five months after Christiane starts learning window dressing in Cologne, she decides to pursue a degree in art. She just has graduated.

 

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