I paint and draw animals, people and sometimes landscapes. Animals interest me as painting objects, and I just love drawing them from life in the fields around me or painting them lifesize in my studio, which is in a converted dairy farm just north of Amsterdam. You can't find me happier than when painting fur with huge brushes and broad strokes. On a deeper level, the long standing and sometimes uncomfortable relationship between kept animals and humans keeps popping up in the work, whether I paint horses, donkeys, cows or apes. The dependence of the animals on us and their trust gives us a huge responsibility. I'm not at all sure that we as humans live up to our part of the deal.

I have just finished a large project about the different aspects of dairy farming. How does it influence the animals, the people and the landscape? This is the MILK project, and it is now on show at Waterlands Museum De Speeltoren in Monnickendam, until January 9th 2022. I am currently working on apes.

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