"schapendoes" Painting

Original Dutch,
member of la Société Française de l'Aquarelle.
painting from 1994

age I went to the artschool in Rotterdam Holland but did not know which direction
to choose. There were different possibilities. I chose fahion , wanted also decoration/painting. Anyway I graduated in ‘64. After that I worked as a free-lance stylist for magazines, and in the filmindustrie as a costumedesigner.
I could be very creative, it was work, so I had to follow instructions of course even with all my ideas.
In between all those productions , working with photographers and building
Sets. I started painting
And as I learned to paint lace and dresses, and even handkerchief edging very fine at the artschool , I started to paint the still lives I built for the camera. And the things or people I saw during travelling . I loved to do that, en there the idea born willing to do that as an artiste -peintre.! Being free to choose what. I remember my first exhibition in Amsterdam was as if I was marrying myself. All the people who came to see what I had done , giving me flowers etc.! Great feeling .this was in‘84


After working 25 years in those sections , magazines, publicity, television and film
I stopped suddenly, moved away to France ,because you make tropical years . So I decided to follow my passion with my own ideas, And my greatest passion is to paint the animals.
It took me some time to deliber me of what I learned in Artschool and tob e free in painting, and especially waterpantings to play with the water and colors.and I’m very happy when people sometimes, not very happy, having a bad day maybe look at my paintings and leave with a smile on their face! And deep in my heart I know that I’m also helping the animals…by showing them to the people now being aware of a living beautiful creature!

I work in Holland as well as in France.

Animals always inspire me. I love them and I consider them almost like persons. As a water-animal-painter I want to paint them happy, alive and intelligent, with their emotions , their soul....I observe them in the wildlife sanctuaries and in the Zoo. The most I like to meet them in freedom. If possible I make sketches and pictures in their habitat and after that I paint and forget time.
I hate bad treatment and torturing and suffering of an animal and I fight against it.