Growing up in Holland, I was influenced by many Dutch painters and this was reflected in my art during my teenage years. As a teenager, I was creating symbolic paintings. These paintings came from my distress and frustration with the loss of community and the rise of the technological world. The different emotional ages that I have experienced such as the teenage years, pregnancy, divorce and the never ending concern for the planet and it’s pollution have all created in me the need to paint.
Later in life, I discovered that people’s feelings can be influenced by what they see. This in turn affects their behavior. For this reason, I chose to study art therapy and learn the effects of light and color on people’s feelings. I have been painting with water color to create the appearance of light. I hope to enlighten people and cause them to walk away from my paintings with a light heart.
Although I have been painting since the age of eight, I am mostly self taught and have never had any formal training except for a few classes at the College of Siskiyous. I used my time to study child psychology, education and philosophy at the University in Holland in 1972 and I graduated from the Rudolph Steiner School as a Waldorf teacher in 1980. At the age of sixty-two I started to paint with oil at the University of Oregon where I got my BA in Art in 2008.
I choose to paint children realistically in nature. My belief is that when children experience nature, they will learn to love and care for the earth and it is beneficial for their formative years.
I’ve shown my paintings in many different countries such as Europe, America and Asia. I love plein air (outdoors) painting in all of these countries.