A Bio
I have been asked to write a Bio which is not the easiest task because it’s only since early 2013 that I started exploring expression into visual arts again after a hiatus of 13 years.
So. I will tell you something more biographical in a personal sense.

What art means to me
I always have been involved in creative projects but usually pushing them to a different level from behind the scenes or digitally trough the means of graphic design, a profession that I still have. Drawing and painting was my biggest hobby until the year 2000. This hiatus of 13 years has been good for me because all feels new to for me. It feels like an open and fresh and unconditioned exploration into new areas that inspire and captivate me and who knows that what captivated me will captivate you too.

What it really boils down to for me is that art in general is all about «relating». It has to draw you in, tickle your belly, make your heart glow, your head spin, fascinate your curiosity, talk to you on a level where words lose meaning but where inner senses, instincts and feelings live. That is the main objective that I have. Something has to happen to me when I create it… It has to draw me in into an other sphere, because otherwise the whole action of creating something is dead to me. If it is missing that spark igniting it for me then it will be ignited in my fireplace which is its best place in that case. Every piece of art has a place for me, a feeling. Probably it has a different place for you or a different feeling. That is beside the point. The point is that it talks to you and resonates with something inside of you. Then art lives and has the function that I hope it has… So it is more than just pretty pictures. It is about sensing with those senses that you have that lie beyond the senses.

The techniques I use
I use high contrasts because that is how I am. I am someone wit many facets and contrasts in which beauty and ugliness can lay close to each other too. Also I am a very direct person so the art you get is largely stripped from anything that doesn’t contribute to its strength. I use a lot of spontaneous strokes or scribbles within a defined or determined form. To get to that point I enjoy fine liners and ink a lot, oil paints, charcoal and I sometimes use pastel chalk.

Many years as a graphic designer and Photoshop professional did bring something into my art. Strong compositions with a lot of negative space, balance and depth and the art of shading things correctly. So you might find some elements of graphic design in it if you wanted to analyze. Some have called some pieces pop-art. I don’t really care what it is called. I call it my expression of an impression. Analyzing it won’t bring you closer to the experience so I rather let the art pieces talk for themselves.

Originality
Is it original? I don’t think about that even though I haven’t seen my scribbly chaos technique anywhere else. To my idea being very preoccupied with being original as an artist makes the art per definition unoriginal and confined. It is a lot unlike faked laughter or feigned spontaneity, when you are planning to be brilliant and different. So I am really not sure if it is original. I only have myself and I do what I like to do in a way that I like to do it…

Last but not least
Art is a continuous process of learning to me. It is an exploration of inner realms that coincide with and exploration of techniques that create depth and contrasts so that it expresses closely what I see and feel. And the motive is always a frozen moment. A moment that makes you wonder what is happening or a movement or an intensity that is captivated just there and then but also in some sense for ever and made to hang on somebodies wall…

Oh yeah
One more note. I am Dutch, but still have both my ears.