oil painter
portfolio
I remember Sweden in fragments: snow-covered cottages, quiet winter landscapes, coffee cups, bonefires, and the sweetness of a vaniljbullar.
These paintings are small pieces of a journey shared with friends, now remembered from a distance.
These paintings are about memory, loss, and choosing what to keep.
A collection of small warmths, gathered from the cold.
under construction...
commission a painting
Canvas 40x30cm €750 - 1200
Canvas 50x40cm €1200 - 2000
Canvas 60x50cm €2000 - 3000
Canvas 80x60cm €3000 - 5000
Canvas 100x80cm €5000 - 8750
Each size is offered within a specific price range, with the final price determined by the complexity of the subject being painted. Factors such as the number of people, as well as the simplicity or complexity of the background, will be taken into consideration.
A double portrait is available in all sizes. For portraits featuring more than two people, I recommend choosing a size of 60 × 50 cm or larger to ensure there is enough space to capture each subject with sufficient detail.
Please fill in the form on the right (or below if you are on a mobile device) if you are interested
Reviews from previous customers:
“My husband’s reaction was very similar to mine… tears of emotion, in the most positive way. He said it’s the most beautiful gift he has ever received and praised you for your incredible talent. You have made us both incredibly happy, Aafke!”
“Thank you so much for creating this very special painting. Everyone was completely surprised! Beautiful work. Our kids recognized themselves in the painting, which you captured so perfectly! I absolutely love the colour combinations and the incredible attention to detail. Such amazing work!!”
My name is Aafke. I am a twenty-eight-year-old painter from the north of the Netherlands. A land where the horizon stretches endlessly and the sky always seems larger than life.
For many years, my world was made of ice, asphalt, and velocity. I devoted myself to short track, longtrack speed skating, and cycling, chasing dreams that never became reality. My career was brief, but it was luminous. It shaped my discipline, my resilience, my way of moving through the world.
In 2022, I chose to step away. Retirement sounds heavy for someone so young, but to me it felt like opening a door rather than closing one. For as long as I can remember, another dream had been waiting patiently in the background: quieter, slower, but persistent: to become an artist.
Not long after I left the world of competition, I fulfilled another long-held wish. I bought a VW Transporter and transformed it with help of my brother into a small home on wheels. Wood, fabric, paint, and imagination turned it into something intimate and alive. It is not just a vehicle; it is a moving studio that I can plant wherever I go.
Now I travel through Europe with my dog, Joppe, beside me. We are not yet on the road full-time (though that remains my quiet ambition) but whenever we can, we go. Joppe curls up beside the easel while I work, occasionally lifting his head when the wind shifts or a bird passes overhead.
The landscapes I encounter have become the heart of my art. Nature feels honest to me and in oil paint I try to capture not only what I see, but also the memory it has given me.
I paint scenes. I paint people. I paint moments. Not as exact replicas of reality, but as nostalgic echoes. Paintings that feel like remembering something you didn’t know you would miss.
Where sport once taught me how to move swiftly, painting has taught me how to stand still. To observe.
This is the life I am building: one road, one canvas, one moment at a time.
Welcome on my journey!
