Since 2011 I paint mostly intuitively. This means I let the layers and marks on the canvas guide me. When I start a painting, I don’t know what’s going to come out of it. I paint layer after layer in different techniques and with different materials until something jumps out to me and gives me a starting point. The only thing I know for sure is that there will be people and probably birds in the painting. It is exciting to see the painting come alive, and gives a great sense of freedom. I like to think of art as a kind of poetry. I paint from my heart. I often don’t have the words to express how I feel, but through my pencil or my paintbrush the feelings reveal themselves. Sometimes it’s only after I see the images my heart created, that my feelings start making sense. My paintings teach me things about myself and how I see the world.
My favorite medium is acrylics. I love the fact that it dries so fast, and I can add layer after layer without having to wait for it to dry. My favorite subject to paint are people. I can appreciate abstract art, but I don’t like to make it myself. I love to make a figure come alive. See the different stages it goes through, and end up as a person with its own character and emotions. I love how you can manipulate the different expressions on a face just by a few brush strokes. I almost always paint women. I like the fluid lines, the curves, the softness, the different emotions. And I love to paint birds. Not realistic birds, but birds with bright colors that always seem to interact with the humans on my paintings. I don’t like realistic portraits, I always need to put some fantasy element in there, create a kind of dreamworld. My paintings often radiate a connection between humans and nature.
In 2008 I started selling my paintings. From 2011-2014 I lived in Australia with my family, since 2015 I live in Limbourg in Belgium.
“denthe” is a derivation of my name: the first 3 letters of my first name and the first three letters of my last name. When I was 18 and had to choose what I wanted to study, I decided to study Psychology and keep art for my free time. But, well, you know how it is: graduating, working and starting a family leaves you very little time for hobbies. But the yearning to paint remained. So when, in 2004 , a friend suggested I go with him to a painting club, I gladly accepted, and I’ve been addicted since. Through self-study and workshops, online as well as in person, I developed my painting-style.
