I was born and grew up in The Hague en live half a life in Doetinchem in the east of Holland. As a kid I was very interested in mathematics and spent a lot of time doing things on my own, like drawing, reading and bicycling. I am not surprised that I became a very fanatic painter after studying mathematics en management, along my profession of managementconsultant. After many years of painting I am still a very fanatic painter, even still more.

I followed no formal academic arteducation, in that sense I say I am an autodidact. But I took artclasses in places where I lived. And mathematical knowledge is a great help for a painter, like perspectives, proportions, precision and composition, so I am not completely autodidact.

In the beginning I was mainly interested in Jan van Eyck and other Flamish primitivs. Painting precisely like they did, seemed great to me. Then I became fond of Italian Renaissance painters and Rembrandt. Later on I became impressed by Gustav Klimt and Paul Klee. My latest examples are Joseph Albers and Mark Rothko. That together is a large part of the painterly arthistory of the last ages. My own development follows that: from realistic to abstract, and adds also something to it. That led in the end to what I call my Q’s: abstract paintings which seem to be realistic, and at the same time realistic paintings that seem abstract.

Painting is an art you do for yourself, so do I, otherwise you can’t do it a lifetime. To exhibit your paintings is fun as well because you see your own paintings through the eyes of the onlookers outside your own atelier. At first I wanted to paint good paintings, like Van Eyck. After exhibiting several times and becoming interested in painters of recent decades I developed a wish to create the ultimate painting. That is what the Q’s are. They don’t express an experience of the painter like most other paintings do, they are an experience in themselves for the onlooker. Every Q surprises myself, especially how the painting moves and the space it suggests and how the colors effect each other. I hope to surprise myself and the onlookers many times in the future.

P.S. My paintings are ultimate, my English is not. I hope mistakes don’t bother you while reading.