I live and work in Leiden, a beautiful and inspiring city in the Netherlands. I was born in Amsterdam in 1951. The street where we lived, “formerly Louis Bothastraat” cannot bear it's name anymore. My father was a portraitist. Sitting on a street corners and in city squares, he made thousands of children's portrait drawings in 10 minutes. He was known as the “Artis portraitist” and his favourite spot was in the apenhuis. He was employed as a taxi driver, bus driver and labourer, as we couldn't actually live from art alone. My father was also a member of the Zondagschilders and had an exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum. His biggest wish was that I would enter the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten. And so I did, and I am happy to have done so.


Portraits

I specialised in classical fine arts painting and magical realism. I was particularly inspired by Flemish and Italian painters of the early Renaissance, like Hugo van der Goes, Piero della Francesca and Filippo Lippi. Later on, this style has influenced my portraits. But just like my father, I also love to make portraits with pencil, pen and pastel.


Non-commissioned work

In my non-commissioned work, you'll see -in the course of the years after 1973- a tendency towards sobriety. This tendency towards the abstraction continues during the early eighties. The balance tips over towards landscapes, with a strong illusionary effect. The colour tones are almost abstract in form, but -being part of an object- still are part of the landscape itself. Elements of 'fine arts' painting and 'magical realism' are still present in my current work. I often take my inspiration from sea, rocks and skies."