‘One can only be truly happy by being a painter’

(Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter)

For me, painting always happens through Light and Love. With the invention of tube paints in the 19th century Impressionist painters could at last take their paraphernalia out into the open air and drown in the Light. This continued well into the 20th century in the West, but since then the style has by and large been bled dry by quasi intellectual and conceptual –isms. In contrast in Eastern Europe, to this day, plein-air painting is taught in art academies and universities, and its quality remains unrivalled. Interestingly enough this is the case in the US as well, but no more in Europe.

After completing my studies at the Royal Academy for Art and Design (painting/graphics) in Den Bosch, I was granted a bursary to study for one year at the Universitée des Polytechnique & des Arts in Athens. During that year I painted exclusively outdoors, mainly on the island of Naxos. This laid the basis for my plein-air style and it remains ingrained to this day. I learned to observe, perceive, capture on canvas … and carry on. No faffing or wasting time, but seizing the essence and being able to progress with the fluctuating light, always open to change, letting go, and trusting that at a certain point the painting will direct itself, and I will follow. This happens at every Live Event Paint – letting go and let it grow – take a look and see what I mean.

Education:

Catalogue of Exhibitions since 2011