North Sea series #60 Painting

I was born in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (1966). From an early age, I was brought up with music (organ and piano) and visual arts. In my early years I was often busy with pencil and brush, and I sold drawings and watercolors to private individuals. Hundreds of drawings in pencil and later with ink were made in my teenage years, and that never stopped. I still do a lot of sketching with pen and watercolor, a favorite activity that you can apply everywhere. I always take a small sketchbook with me wherever I am. Sketching is a creative process that is indispensable for any artist. Your senses are stimulated to reproduce the proportions and atmosphere of the reality that the artist experiences in a short period of time. I often find the sketches of the master painters more interesting than the final works of art. The spontaneity provides a lot of information about the character and emotion of the maker at that moment. I like a spontaneous painting style that ranges from impressionist to abstract 'action painting' style. I almost always put colors and shapes directly on the canvas, smoothly. During the workshops plein air painting that I give, I often hear from my students that I paint so quickly and accurately. As a result, the artworks radiate liveliness and spontaneity, sometimes with thick layers of paint with a rough touch. ​After my conservatory diploma I went to study at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam where I was immersed in modern art. There I learned a lot about the subject of modern art society. This is then portrayed by the artist in a unique and sometimes innovative way, often rejecting the traditional values of the artist's critical attitude, becoming visible in a work of art as a creative and visual manifesto. I noticed that modern art triggered me on the one hand, but on the other I felt attracted by the beautiful and fascinating nature. I always continued to do plein air painting and I experience more than in my studio, the freedom during the process of creating and painting. The landscapes I paint mean a lot to me. This often has to do with the mood in which I am. Many paintings show a lot of sky, this to give a stage to the magnificent exciting cloudy skies, which change from minute to minute. The atmosphere is perhaps the most important element of the artwork for me. If the art viewer experiences the atmosphere and enjoys the landscape, then I have been able to pass on my message.