About
Painting started sometime in 1978 as a student in a rowdy mood. Paintings that have been sold completely against expectations in the now closed art dealership Reker in the P.C. Main Street in Amsterdam. However, that was the basis for trying - initially without relevant training - to shape the world surrounding me at the time. Later I visited the Free Academy The Hague in the 1980s and in the following years I also followed a number of necessary courses in all kinds of areas in the field of model and portrait. I am currently following a one-year trajectory at the Amsterdam Academy MK24 (MKXtra), where there is a good climate for me and good sharp questions come along. Some additional courses at the Classical Academy in Groningen provided an excellent addition to my career as a painter in the more figurative and realistic field.
I now turn my attention to a freer painting style in which expression is paramount and the question of meaning and purpose is more important than the reproduction of the known. The ever-present search for the right form of expression makes the work worth making.
In my second profession as a teacher I meet many people; other people now appear on canvas, sometimes from other parts of the world, sometimes from my immediate environment. I try to work in series; a theme or a certain way of expression then forms the common thread. This creates series of works on paper and series in which screen printing has been experimented with. Also a series with larger work on canvas in which the image should convey a more monumental impression to the viewer.
So my work shows several directions: a predominant experimental direction with a preference for structure, tone and limited use of color. The trigger is the processes of life, sometimes current events or ordinary everyday things.
Often I like to experiment with other techniques such as screen printing and etching embedded in a larger work in which acrylic paint and oil paint are also present. Just to see if things can be done differently.
