Artistic motivation

For me one of the most important motivations for painting is the challenge of starting with an empty canvas and creating a piece of art out of nothing. This motivation is very similar to my career as entrepreneur in consultancy. A lot of my assignments also start with a blank page and when the assignments progress, it naturally becomes clear what is going on at a company. That is for me very similar to painting. In everything I do, I create a part of myself in what I create. When I paint, I paint a piece of myself in the canvas. I see artfulness as an ability to flow with my life. It is seeing what needs to happen, utilizing the skill sets at my disposal, using my intuition mixed with a joyful passion.

During the opening of an exhibition of French and Dutch impressionists in Atlanta, well-known entrepreneur John Fentener van Vlissingen once said:  “An entrepreneur and an impressionist have much in common. They both ‘think out of the box’ as Americans say, they have vision and courage”. (From an article in the Telegraaf of the 23rd of October, 2004)

My paintings often originate from a hunch. I started in 1982, with an exhibition of drawings with pencil, charcoal and chalk, in the town hall of Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. I then stopped making art until 1997/1998. When I started again, I used acrylic paint, and in 2008 I started using oil paint as well. I am very much drawn to impressionists and post-impressionists. Since 2012, I also enjoy modernism and cubism, especially in its imagery and use of colours.