Gert-Jan Veenstra

Born in Workum, 1957 The Netherlands.

After secondary school and military service, he worked as an illustrator and designer for, among others, publicity agencies and architecture firms. Meanwhile, he studied the works of painters he admired, like Jacob van Ruisdael, Isaac Israels, and the 18th century English artists John Constable and William Turner.

In 1984, Veenstra decided to become a fulltime artist. Nowadays, he is an internationally renowned painter of landscapes, town views and nautical scenes. His paintings can hardly be confused with those of other landscape artists. Because of the contrast between rural intimacy or solitude and, over it, the stunning splendour of the skies, painted with consummate skill. Veenstra's oeuvre has not yet been completed. It continues to grow and the artist continues to improve his skills working in a variety of techniques: oil, acrylics, ink on paper. In addition to the more traditional oil paintings his acrylic paintings are painted in a contemporary style but still have a nice classic touch to it.

In the past 25 years, paintings by Gert-Jan Veenstra have been exhibited in Dutch and foreign galleries. Since June 2012 Kendalls Fine Art has been presenting his work.