Finding a common denominator in all my paintings is hard. They are all coming from so many different moods. The most obvious thing I have noticed in my work is a tension between realism and unrealism. I want to prove to myself that I can observe and depict reality accurately. But at the same time, I don't want to become ordinary. That's why I will soon distort reality to show the viewer something new and intriguing.
I am most inspired by places I see and visit. I record these experiences with photographs which will be the bases for future paintings. I love this challenge of making the viewer see the real place I saw but giving him my reflection of it, going beyond description and into expression, giving a soul to the subject and letting it express itself. It will sometimes tell a story.
When I start a painting, I first think about what I want to leave away, resketching and reframing my photograph. I filter the overloaded reality, I simplify the subject, because it gives me a comforting feeling to have clear perspectives, pure lines and geometrical shapes, but still with the tension of accuracy. Then I choose one color that will dominate the painting. And I will try to add no more than 2 or 3 other colors, also for the same principle of keeping everything simple, which is my vision of aesthetics.
I almost never know what the painting will look like. My tools run over the canvas and I just agree or disagree. It is like having an argument with another part of me.