Still lifes

Always and everywhere I see possible paintings around me. To capture that inspiration, I have built up a large photo archive over the years with my camera and later with my smartphone.Suddenly - sometimes much later - I remember that inspiration from back then and look up the photos to serve as a reference. It has always been my principle that the reference photos I use in a painting are my own, otherwise it doesn't feel like my own creation. In between the larger works I sometimes like to paint a still life, previously mainly in watercolour, now usually in oil paint.

There are flowers, but there is also fruit in beautiful Spanish and Italian ceramic bowls. But a dead pigeon and shells on the beach are also still lifes. In recent years I have been invited to make a number of very small still lifes by for the annual miniature exhibitions of Abend Gallery in Denver/USA and of Museum Mohlmann in Appingedam/The Netherlands.