About Eelke van Hoof

I am an intuitive, abstract painter and I live and work in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. I am a professional artist since 2004. A few years after I quit my psychology studies, I started painting. I delved deeper into my own psyche and as a result felt the unstoppable need to paint. For two and a half years I followed masterclasses given by Bob Tomanovic. There I learned different painting techniques with the emphasis on water mixable oil paint. The element of water plays an important role during my working process because it stimulates the natural flow of energies inside myself and the letting go of control. Oftentimes I let the flow of water decide what the basis of my composition will be. From there on I build up my work in mostly transparent layers having no idea what the end result will look like, which is exactly what excites me. Often my work is being described as spiritual. The term I like to use now is ‘mysterious abstract’. For a lot of people it evokes a sense of otherworldliness, other dimensions or the spirit world. I always try to connect the heavenly and earthly realms by applying both dark and light colours and often using earth materials like sand and clay to ground the work against the more ethereal colour washes. In 2004 I started giving painting courses. First they were given the name of ‘intuitive painting’, later I switched to the name ‘flowpainting’. The latter because of the extensive use of water and the resultant flow. The same year I was granted a subsidy (WWIK) by the Dutch government which recognised me as a professional artist and which I received for a maximum time of four years between 2005-2010. In this period I built up my professional career as an artist and exhibited my work in both The Netherlands as well as abroad (New Zealand, Belgium and India (Biennale Calcutta).