I’ve made many drawings, watercolors, oil paintings, and acrylic paintings throughout my life. I started with simple colored pencils, and when I was about eight, I received a beautiful set of Caran d’Ache colored pencils as a gift from my father. It was a rather large box, filled with many colors, including various shades of gray, which opened up a whole new world of materials for me. And from then on, I was able to create much more beautiful drawings. Flower petals took on more shades of green, and the white of a daisy’s petals took on lilac shadows, which themselves consisted of several shades of lilac. Because even then, I saw that white wasn’t simply a matter of “leaving the paper white and nothing else”; no, there were clearly nuances visible in a petal. So, from childhood onward, I explored and drew a great deal, and I had an insatiable urge to create. That went on and on.
Knowledge of Material Use
I gradually gained more knowledge about materials, such as working with watercolor paint. This was a technique that required a lot of practice, both in paper selection and paint. My other blog post about watercolors describes this in detail. Later, around the age of sixteen, I took my first steps in oil painting. I painted small linen panels with a copper vase or jug ​​containing a few picked flowers. At that time, my mother frequently collected all kinds of small copper trinkets so that I could have the object I wanted to paint right in front of me. And gleaming copper was a challenge to represent in oil paint. But I succeeded! So much so that my father had the paintings framed, and years later, they still hang on my mother's living room wall.
That phase of exploration
Although flowers and plants, the landscape, and bumblebees are central to all my drawings and paintings, I'm not an "artist" who does the same thing all my life. In other words, I create work using the same technique, style, and subject. Yes, the subjects are, but the styles and techniques of the materials and rendering are completely different from time to time. This is because I constantly go through that phase of exploration, where a flower, for example, can be depicted not only in a watercolor but also in a subdued black-and-white pencil drawing. That's where I feel most comfortable. I can't consistently create the same paintings. Boredom sets in.
Three Categories
To provide some clarity in what can be seen here on the website, I've divided my work into three categories: Exuberant, Subdued, and Botanical. Each has its own representation of the subject and the feeling it evokes. The latter is important because I find it most beautiful when my work "touches you."
Exuberant
It touches you. The term "exuberant" refers to paintings and watercolors in a fluid style where a sense of movement and loose brushstrokes are central. A technique that may seem casual at first glance, but don't be fooled. I feel like every brushstroke and its placement must be perfect. That requires a lot of detachment while painting, until I feel it's right. And since I'm in charge... anyway ;)
Botanical
The "botanical" category is much easier for me when I'm drawing a flower. Essentially, it comes down to depicting what I see of a flower as precisely as possible. The stem, the leaves. Only technique plays the leading role, along with the imaginary light source. Now I have the pleasure of being able to create a botanical work in almost any technique I want, so I'm not limited to just pencils, for example. That also makes this kind of work very challenging.
Subdued
With "subdued," I can also use any technique I like, but I want to evoke a subdued feeling. This can be done with color, or simply with a black fineliner on white paper. But even then, there are many possibilities that can give a beautiful, colorful tulip, for example, a subdued character. Personally, I find a subdued drawing beautiful when there's a lot of white space visible on the paper. In other words, the ratio between the image and where nothing is on the canvas or paper, etc. The image shows an exuberant acrylic painting measuring 70 x 90 cm. A well-filled surface, lush peonies, and a large canvas. This is how you truly experience a painting...
