I would describe my style as “Abstracted figurative”. That’s because it is a figurative image and because it is a very recognizable visual representation of reality. On the other hand it is abstracted and not realistic, because I am more looking for that powerful shape and color that I find suitable for the art, than that I am looking to display the exact reality. I actually find the exact reality very uninteresting, because there is very little freedom for me to create my own image.

I’m always looking for a form or composition in my work that I find powerful enough to put centrally on paper or canvas. Basically it has something minimalistic, but because of the use of different materials I am able to bring more detail and structure into the works. So that it is not just a 2 dimensional illustration, but it also comes to life in the light and from different points of views.

The subject I paint about, actually changes simultaneously with the phase of my life that I am in. Recently I have painted a lot of flowers, plants and animals because I could be found in nature a lot and still am. So while I felt the need to learn more about myself, I felt the need to be more in nature. This created the series “a touch of nature”. I was very attracted to earthy colors and shapes and you can see that in my work immediately.

That said, I really love red shades, this is one of the colors that you also see a lot in my work. As with the Lobster Pose, Mr Crab and a Red flower bouquet, that is the color that plays the leading role.

A new series or part of a series usually comes about when I make an image intuitively, which can literally arise because I try out colors on my paper. When I am happy with the design, I want to make several works that go with it. In general I think a painting also gets stronger when there is a series of it. A few good examples are the sea animals I painted, this is part of the series ‘a touch of nature’, where I made the lobster intuitive and then looked at other sea animals that inspire me because of their shape, color or character. So, a new mini-series or sub-series has emerged.

I also paint portraits and bodies. In the series of ‘body parts’, which some works will also be printed by Urban cotton, you will see the earthy color tones again because I painted this in the same phase as when I worked on ‘a touch of nature’. I used to paint in very bright colors and who knows if that will come back.

It also started with painting women (bodies) for me. This remains a fascination that keeps coming back, but which I always paint in a new color or technique that I am working with at that moment. I also look for the right shape in a portrait, but in this case I find it especially important that the eyes speak. In the portraits of bodies I mainly look for the balance between figurative and abstract, which I then color in by use of different materials. The base for this is acrylic ink and from there I work with one or more other materials to give a certain detailed structure. In these works I opted for a crackle paste that lies very nicely 3-dimensionally on the paper and tears during drying. Because I paint this in the meantime, you can see that the cracks remain white and the top gets the color of the ink. It has something organic because I cannot control the precise lines and I think that works very well. It is precisely the creation of a work that I find the most fun together with the constant discovery of new techniques or materials. When I try out something new again, I start making combinations of other techniques in my head and try to merge them into a new work. That is always the discovery for me.