I was born in Haarlem in 1969. For years I worked as a sign painter before I gave myself over to painting. I began making paintings in the mid-nineties, and I never finished a formal training — you could fairly call me self-taught.
In 2011 my painting Vision was selected — anonymously, from 4,750 submissions — for the Zomerexpo at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag (then the Gemeentemuseum). Since January 2018 I have been a member of KZOD (Kunst Zij Ons Doel), founded in 1821 and one of the oldest artists’ societies in the Netherlands, where new members are admitted by ballot. I show my work regularly in group exhibitions in and around Haarlem, and my paintings have been written about in the regional press. Today my work hangs in private collections in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Portugal and the United States.
How do my paintings come into being? My work just emerges. I never make a sketch; I paint directly onto the canvas, allowing scenes to emerge organically and instinctively.
What do I do when I’m not painting? I buy new canvases for my next work.
"Each painting is left untouched in the closet for at least six months after it's finished.It is a process of stagnation and growth. Sometimes I redo half of the canvas. And if I am not satisfied, I destroy it."
"My paintings evolve organically, often emerging as an automatism. However, it is not uncommon for me to not understand the meaning of a painting until months after its completion. That is why many of my paintings turn out to be autobiographical."
"I start painting without a set plan. I just start, and then the painting takes off on his own. Often, it emerges from a spot or shape that I see in the background layer of my painting. I have noticed that recurring icons often take over my canvas. Those icons fit into my work. They belong to me."
