Biography

"I think I am addicted to the process of creation. Maybe it’s because of my creativity that I seem to constantly invent new ideas that I then want to realize. I find myself in a constant imbalance of having too many ideas and too little time, ideas for paintings, drawings, animations, scripts and even the more practical things that come up while being a mother and a teacher.
Although I prefer to spend my time on creative projects, I have usually given the highest priority to practical chores. That’s how I, for example, ended up making my daughter’s bed, resized a Chinese TV-closet using a circular saw and spent a serious amount of time in renovating my house and making quality lessons for my students in the past years. Finally after an accident where I broke both my wrists I realized my ignored passion and urge to make art. So recently I picked-up painting again which made me aware of how much I love making art and how much I missed doing that."

The beginning
At a young age it was already clear to me that I wanted to choose a creative job when I grew up. My parents took me to schools for art and design. When I first visited the School for Graphic Design in Utrecht (Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht) I was shocked about the amount of computers in the classrooms. My aversion to these (in my eyes) technical machines quickly changed when I found out the endless possibilities of the graphical- and animation software I learned there.

Entrepeneur
During my first study (at the age of 18) I started my own company as an illustrator (Click here to view my commercial work). I made a substantial amount of work for several clients in various styles and techniques. After graduating from two accelerated studies in 2000 I was asked to fill in as a teacher. I discovered how much positive energy it gave me to help students in discovering and developing their creative talent. So at the age of 20, I started teaching illustration, animation (2d/3dsmax/Cinema4D) and designing skills, which I still do today.
I combined the two jobs for several years till I stopped my work as an illustrator in 2007. It’s ironic that I started to dislike the job that I had studied and dreamed about for many years and the job as a teacher, which I had never considered, gave me so much fulfillment.
As an illustrator I worked without colleagues, constantly juggling the time-related assignments with my job at the School for Graphic Design and personal life.

Making my own art
After years of making illustrations under time pressure in the style clients desire and after years of helping students bringing their creative ideas to life, I am now realizing my own art. I’ve got a lot of ideas for paintings, scripts and animations, which I would love to realize and bring to life in the future.

Inspiration
The style that inspires me most is surrealism. I like to add something unexpected and spontaneous to the tableau, bringing fantasy and reality together and giving an unexpected twist to it. I believe that a successful artwork should leave the viewer with a little amazement or surprise and should tickle his creative mind also.