Mr. & Mrs. Emerson at the Lake in Palmer Painting

Apart from some months at the Antwerp academy, I have no formal training in art or painting. In my earlier career I worked as a strategist in marketing communications and advertising. Even up to today I work as an independent brand strategy consultant. But more and more this is being taken over by this other passion of mine : oil painting. Since a couple of years now I got into a relatively stable routine of exploring the ins and outs of painting on canvas. I love the lively plasticity of oil paint. With each brushstroke I push and pull the colors – almost like sculpting – into shapes with expression. In contrast to oil, I hate acrylic, which I find a ‘dead material’. I focus on representational subjects. Sources of inspiration come from different sides. I guess most of my work tries to portray real people and their emotions. It can be portraits of people I know or scenes from news items – such as the recent refugee crisis in Syria. I start from photos that I have taken myself of the subject, or pictures that I find on news sites. The biggest challenge is ‘seeing’ and translating the essence and the details into a new speaking and striking image. My recent body of work deals with interpersonal relations. I can be deeply moved by how adults (parents ?) relate to (their ?) kids and vice versa. Growing up is a complex process. Happiness and sorrow, anger and angst, love and rebellion - there are enough colors in life to be inspired by in my paintings.