I had a painters-block of about 20 years

I am a self-taught artist. I paint ever since I was a little girl, as long as I can remember. I had a painters-block of about 20 years when I worked as a medical doctor. But one day I bought a small studio next to my house and started painting again. Now I am both a painter and a researcher in the medical field. Both require creativity and an open and curious mind.

My art is playful, poetic and full of color. I love color. Color connects us to our deepest emotional level. It’s a wise teacher that patiently puts us in contact with different parts of ourselves. Color brings joy and playfulness into my world. The only period in my life when I lived without color, is when I wanted to start with a clean slate. I moved into a temporary place and painted all the walls and furniture white. That was serene, blank, a void. An in-between space where I could un-become who I had become over time, and grow into my true self.

I love nature: plants, animals, the clouds, rain, sky, mountains, the sea. But especially the darkness of the night, with the stars and the moon and all the planets. Did you see Mars behind the full moon last week? I love sand under my feet and the warm sun on my skin when I paint outside. Quietly sitting in a corner of the world.

I have developed my own authentic voice. Painting is an ongoing conversation with my inner world. I can pick up the thread anytime. There is always a persona/being in my paintings. Possibly a person, more likely something else, maybe a plant or a planet. These personas are in a relationship with each other, and with you as the viewer. There is always a deep emotional connection, or longing for deep(er) connection. Possibly distant, sometimes more intimate. Like real persons, my persona-plants and other beings enjoy each other, long for each other, reach out to one another. These little scenes are the moments I capture, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. My art mirrors our inner emotional life.

And then there are my materials. I work with 99% natural materials, which is very distinctive of my style. On paper, linnen canvas, wooden panels. I make and prepare my own panels, with homemade glue and gesso from ecological ingredients. Anything that sticks can become paint, if you mix it with pigment. Oil with pigment is oil paint. Egg yolk with pigment is egg-tempera or tempera paint. Beeswax with pigment is encaustic paint. The part that sticks is called a binder. And binder with pigment is called paint. Most painters today use an acrylic binder. That is plastic. If you paint with acrylic, you are painting with plastic. If you have an acrylic painting in your space, that’s plastic. I want my art to be as close to nature as it can be. That is why I take the trouble to mix my own gesso and paint. As ecological as possible. I experiment with these classical materials, combining them into new, cross-over materials.