I grew up in The Netherlands and freely wandered the endless flat polders of South Holland, where canals converge into mathematical vanishing points and endless skies push in from the North Sea. That geometry and structure inevitably inform the design and compositional elements of my paintings today – across time and continents.

I observe, study, and obsess over my subjects, creating a working narrative which will help me bring them to life on the canvas. In the studio, I can fully shape that narrative through deliberate lighting and placement, nudging ever closer toward my perfect composition. Out in the field, I wait for nature to provide the most interesting cloud formations, angles of light, and shadow play.

Regardless, it is the narrative playing in my mind that ultimate gives form to and drives my images. I take momentary snippets, freeze-frames from the observed world in the employ of a story good enough to push me to that last brushstroke. A story that I can bring to life in the illusion of three-dimensional space is what ultimately makes me get up in the morning.