As a Dutch born oil painter from a multigenerational artistic family, my work has developed out of a rich personal and cultural heritage. Drawing on qualities of the Dutch Golden Age, I paint ordinary life, objects, landscapes and agricultural scenes but always select subjects with an eye on their relevance in our contemporary lives. This results in creating the narrative threads of two worlds -- one that resonates with nostalgia of the Old World and the other that is grounded in the present. In line with this, I paint scenes of my native Netherlands and now also my new homeland of Vermont and the Northeast.

In painting from actuality, I make careful pictorial judgments and maintain acute awareness of the role light plays in the development of atmosphere and visual drama. However, my work is not an exercise in accuracy but is interpreted through a personal lens with the aim to render ordinary subjects extraordinary. By alternating between traditional Dutch mastery of fine detail and richly variegated ‘rough’ brushstrokes, I hope to tease out the aliveness of the subject matter with the aim to give my paintings pertinence and incisiveness.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Cow Portrait - oil I - 24 x 30 in