This page is all about me; all about who I am, where I came from, and where I am going.
When I finished high school I wanted to travel. I was done with school and needed to go. I traveled mostly to Denmark, where I stayed with an elderly couple who needed a lot of help on their ecological farm. After two months I went to the south of Denmark where I was going to meet a blacksmith. I was his apprentice for two weeks.
Those were the beginnings of great friendships. I have been there a total of 7 times and counting.
In my second “gap year’’ I practiced the art of being a blacksmith on my own for half a year. I could use the smitty in the old harbor of Rotterdam. Which was amazing. I loved doing it, I even wanted to start a little business. I succeeded in earning back all the money that I put into it.
But it died a little and I wanted to do other things. I had a need to travel again. So I decided to go biking. I started in Stockholm and tried to bike home. After 5 weeks and visiting my friend in Denmark, I was done biking. I had done about 1200km so when I got to Germany I took the train.
At the start of the 3e year, I almost started a studi. It was going to be Woodworking and furniture building (HMC Hout en Meubileringscollege). I was excited to combine my blacksmith skills with woodworking skills. But just one week before it was supposed to start I stumbled upon a different kind of school. It was another “gap year’’ but this time there would be counseling, other students, and all kinds of classes I never thought I would take. I had to decide quickly because it was starting that same week too.
I chose the “gap year’’ where they would help me to find out what I wanted to do in my life. It is still one of the best decisions I have made. I found out I wanted to travel even more. At the end of the year, when Corona had just started, I started my YouTube channel and I started to plan my travels. I wanted to visit and study all kinds of communities. And the best way to do that was to travel by bike through Europa. A friend went with me, which was great, it would not have been the same without him. The plan for me was to travel through Europe like that for a year and make videos of the adventures. We started to bike North, to Denmark. We visited some communities on the way, it was great. When we got to Copenhagen, my friend decided to go home. Which was fine. He assured me I could do this on my own, and I could do it on my own.
I stayed in Denmark and met a lot of people. I even tried connecting a few places and communities. The plan was there, and people were excited. But it was getting harder because of the corona. After some time off, of which I spent a lot of time alone, I decided to go home. I felt fulfilled. The choice to go home made me happy. I finished the business I had in Denmark and started to bike home. It took me 3 weeks to get home. In total, I had done about 2000km.
My almost 4 ‘’gap years’’ (I am not going to call them that anymore) had come to an end. All the things I learned in the years had come together in that last journey. A chapter had ended and it felt great.
Then the next chapter began. I enjoyed making videos on YouTube, so I kept doing it. I felt the need to create something. So I tried some different things. Which you can see for yourself on the channel.
Around this time my neighbor reached out to me and told me about a project he was working on, called WALHALLAb. They were trying to create a place for young people where they can express all of their creativity. It connected to my research and search for community, what it is, and what it could be.
For the last couple of months, I helped wherever I could. I have met a lot of new amazing people. It all led me to find my creativity again. Well, I now realize it was always there. Then I made a video about my first year on YouTube because it was exactly one year later (May 15). I talked about how it went and how it was. I promised to keep making videos and uploading them every week, but I have not uploaded them since. After that video, I started thinking about something I said in the video. I realized that I enjoy making lamps. To go out on the street to find metal bits and things, and turn that into useful art. To create something that did not exist before. To make this world even more beautiful and inspire others to do the same.
After 4 years of finding out what I want to do with my life, I finally found something that I want to keep doing. At least for a while. We will see what the future brings.
[August 2021]
Now I am busy making a YouTube series that I am going to call: ‘’On the Road to Become a Successful Artist’’. It will probably start in September, but no pressure. I want to make sure it is a good series, and that takes time.
For now, I will keep going making the small steps necessary to get closer to fulfilling my ever-changing dreams. And you, if you are still here, you are helping me do it. Thank you.
[October 2023]
Two years have passed and I am still working on becoming an artist. Maybe I already am. The need to create is still there, probably even more than there ever was. 10 pieces are finished and there is more on the way. I don’t know what the future holds I just know I am still happy with what I am doing. Who knows maybe there will be expositions in the future or something else might happen. We will see. For now, I am going to continue with what I am doing.