I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, but professionally my background is in photography. After studying at the Photoacademy Amsterdam, I chose to focus on nature and wildlife photography. For many years I 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. To work more freely and to blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality even further, I made a transition from photography to painting and drawing.

The relationship between humans and their natural environment and its other inhabitants remains the central theme in my paintings. With humor and a touch of magic, I like to offer a fresh perspective.