"True Blue" Painting

“My paintings are intense, soulful and vivid, created from nothing but pure emotion, radiating sorrow and happiness in a dazzling array of colours.” I was born in Voorburg, the Netherlands, on 14 September 1965. Even as a toddler, I always loved to draw and play with colours. In the third year of primary school, my teachers had a hard time teaching me anything at all. I was totally unreceptive and was way behind my classmates in reading, writing and calculus. All I did was draw horses and stare out of the window, gazing at the animals running around and playing in the petting zoo. One day, my teacher brought a book to school that was filled with drawings and horse anatomy pictures. Nothing could have made me happier at the time. She allowed me to do as I please, and halfway through the fourth year, I started to catch up on all of my school work. My drawing and dreaming days were over. It was not until 1983, during my final year of High School in the US, that I rekindled my love for drawing. I attended Art Class nearly every day and loved every minute of it. The host family I lived with ran a frame shop, so I was exposed to a lot of art. My American art professor quite adamantly insisted that I enroll in the Art Academy in Denver, but I was homesick for the Netherlands, and despite his advice, I followed my heart and returned to Voorburg. Back home in the Netherlands, I hardly drew at all until I attended an acrylic painting workshop in 2005. I enjoyed it so much that I never stopped painting since then. Painting is an absolute passion for me. Creating art provides me with a sense of boundless freedom. The paintings seem to evolve and create themselves during the process – all I know in advance is which colours I want to use. I like to use a large canvas as it gives me the space and freedom to pour my energy out onto it. As soon as I start reflecting on it or forming an opinion, all spontaneity collapses and I lose the momentum. My paintings are intense, soulful and vivid, created from nothing but pure emotion, radiating sorrow and happiness in a dazzling array of colours. Some are abstract, others figurative, but all of them combine a buildup of thick layers of paint applied in broad, sweeping strokes with delicate, transparent colours.