Elk (Dutch for each, everyone) R712 Print

I studied journalism, but I wanted to be an artist. I visited two art academies in the Netherlands and it felt like coming home. It was 1975. I never finished them, I'm still learning. First inspired by the Beatles and Zappa, then Byrds and the Velvet Underground. Pop music, pop art, Warhol. Van Gogh, then Beuys, DaDa, Matisse, de Kooning, wow the world of paint and color. I was sure this was my way of contributing to the world. Painting, on the border between reality and feeling. Landscape, portraits, human relationships, communication, abstract or figurative, balance, yes, always color and lines, intention and spontaneity. Concept. I did many other things to earn money and continued painting. In 1993 I wrote a book with many of my drawings: 'Never shy again'. A modest success and a turning point, finding my own way as an artist. I became a trainer and continued to paint. I started studying Taoist philosophy in 2003, until now. Since 2011 I have had a large workshop in an old factory. I'm still learning, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, classical painters. Modern painters, Hockney, Freud, Basquiat, Kiefer. Mental landscapes, mental portraits, music. Language is part of my art. My personal quest, our human quest. Always back to nature and Tao. My work is diverse, colorful, experimental and expressive. Between figurative and abstract. In addition to paintings and drawings, I also make wooden sculptures. Looking for the light. Looking for peace, for everything and everyone. “Home is the way, there is no way home.”