I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, but professionally my background is in photography. After studying at the Photoacademy Amsterdam, out of personal interest I chose to focus on nature and wildlife photography. I created documentary series for Staatsbosbeheer (Dutch State Forestry), KNGF Guide Dogs, and the Dutch Seal Rehabilitation Centre. For many years I also photographed animal portraits in my own studio, and time and again I was struck by how much personality and character many of them displayed — often I was still recognized and greeted months later by animals I had worked with.

Driven by the desire to show others what I saw in my subjects, I began experimenting with emphasizing and enlarging their sometimes almost humanlike traits and emotions. Alongside more conventional portrait work, I soon started creating photo manipulations with hundreds of image layers and (digitally drawn) adjustments. To work more freely and to blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality even further, I eventually made a complete transition from photography to painting and drawing.

How humans perceive their relationship to their natural environment and its other inhabitants remains the central theme in my paintings. With humor and a touch of magic, I like to propose an new perspective on this relationship.