About me

"For me, art is the ultimate way to feel the world around me and capture emotions in colour and texture."

My journey in painting began from a deep fascination with nature and the expressive power of animals. As a self-taught artist, I have developed my own style over the years, working mainly with high-quality acrylic paint. The fast drying time and versatility of acrylic allows me to work in layers.

In my studio, surrounded by brushes, palette knives and a sea of colours, I find peace. Each painting starts as a rough sketch or an abstract idea that slowly takes shape on the canvas. My work is characterised by a balance between realism and impressionism, where I strive to capture a certain atmosphere or emotion, instead of a photographic representation.

My Story

All my life I lived in fear; uncertainty and the fear of the future held me in their grip. Searching for answers, I soon found myself on a spiritual path. I was looking for something, but didn't notice that my Christian background was slowly fading away. I stepped into a world where I wasn't meant to be, and after 5 years everything changed in a single evening.

The Dance of light and darkness.

In a Balinese temple, we watched a dance. In that dance, various gods from their culture appeared: • The Story: The dance tells how Sita is abducted by the demon king Ravana. Prince Rama receives help from the monkey god Hanuman and his monkey army to rescue her.

Somewhere I already felt: I'm not supposed to be here! At the same time, I couldn't really get away. I decided to just stay seated. The dance progressed and I tried to concentrate on the dance and the costumes. I just couldn't. I kept watching what was being done with hand gestures, and I felt as if I had ended up in a ceremony where I slowly saw the light fade.

Then suddenly there was one of their people wearing a scary monkey mask. It was immediately clear to me that it was meant to be the embodiment of a demon. Instantly my whole body felt unwell. My whole body resisted. I saw him walking around, taking pictures with people. I found it horrible and didn't look at him. Of course, he came straight at me. He touched my shoulder and I have never felt the way I did then. I burst into tears, and around me I saw people laughing incredibly hard and filming me. Even when a friend kept pushing the man's hand away and told him to leave, he wouldn't leave me alone. Afterwards she said: "The harder I pushed him away, the more his eyes started to gleam. He enjoyed the attention."

The turning point

Before Bali I was very much occupied with searching: What do I actually believe? It led me onto a spiritual path. Without really realising it, I entered that spiritual battle I should never have stepped into. The dance turned all of this around 360 degrees. I found my answer.

I came back to God. I felt His love and His touch. No matter how many people laughed at me and filmed me, I felt God's nearness. My eyes opened and I suddenly understood what I was seeing. Something I had felt from minute one. This is not of the Lord! Although I still wanted to leave, I was able to stay seated and slowly calmed down again, because I was not alone. I suddenly felt peace. Everything that had haunted me for years fell from my shoulders.

As a tribute, I painted this artwork. A friend recently told me: "No matter how many steps you are away from Him, it's only one step back." I took that step. I turned my life around and put God first. He is all I need. Because of Him, I no longer have to be afraid. He watches over me!