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 portraiture. I have recently followed a trajectory at the Amsterdam Academy MK24 (MKXtra), where a artistic climate caused a more abstact line in my recent work. Some additional courses at the Classical Academy in Groningen provided an excellent addition to my career as a painter in a more figurative and realistic way.
I now turn my attention alse 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. On the other hand, my portraits still represent my initial admiring to the human being.
In my other profession as a teacher I meet many people; different 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.
My work now shows several directions: a predominant experimental direction with a preference for structure, tone and limited use of color. Rembrandt is one of my favorites.
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.
