Who I am
⎯ Thank you for stopping by, I would like to tell you a little more about myself.
I have been working as a professional artist for more than 20 years and live and work in Stekene Flanders.
My goal every time I paint is to capture and tell an amazing story in paintings.
Leave you with a painting in which you feel the emotions and live on forever.
I like to take the viewer on a journey to my possible and impossible world.
Animals combined with humor always play the leading role in this journey.
The paintings often dare to be cheerful, hilarious and 'out of the box'.
You have been warned!
Most of the paintings that I make leave Flanders and move to foreign art collections.
A little origin story about a big dream
⎯ I grew up in the rural Beveren-Waas.
Ever since I was young, I was surrounded with brushes and paint from my father. These photos from the 70s below are witness to this.
Me and my father at his art studio.
It was clear that I also had the artistic microbe just like my father Hilaire Bals. He was also a professional painter for years and inspired me to go to the drawing academy in Beveren-Waas.
At the same time, I followed graphic design in Antwerp.
After my military service with the Air Force I ended up working at the Stedelijk Museum in Sint-Niklaas. There, I mainly worked on the temporary exhibitions where I often went on prospecting for artists and museums.
All very interesting, but in the meantime I sold my paintings that I made during my free hours and that went very well.
At one point it dawned on me ... do I want a safe job and a taste of the artistry?
Or do I opt for the adventurous and will I become a full-time artist?
It has become the last and I have not regretted it!
Gallery representation
Galerie Honingen
Lange Tiendeweg 40
2801 KJ Gouda - The Netherlands
www.honingen.com
Exhibitions
You could have seen the paintings here:
- Städtischen Museum Schloss Rheydt, Kulturgeschichtliches Museum der Stadt Mönchengladbach (D)
- Stedelijk Museum, Sint-Niklaas (B)
- Centre Rops, Brussel (B)
- Cortewalle Castle, Beveren (B)
- Kunst und Antiquitätentage Münster, Münsterland (D)
- Art gallery Argo, Knokke Het Zoute (B)
- Galerie 713, Knokke Het Zoute (B)
- Art Nocturne Knokke, Kunst- en antiekbeurs Knokke Het Zoute (B)
- Galerie Evasion, Waremme (B)
- Galerie Paulette Bos, Den Haag (NL)
- Headquarters Ethias insurance, Luik (B)
- Galerie Van Veen en Vendelbosch, Dordrecht (NL)
- Atelier Hilaire Bals, De Klinge (B)
- Dacca, Temse (B)
- Galerie Esprit, Clinge (NL)
- Galerie Honingen, Gouda (NL)
- Galerie De Beeldenstorm, Bosschenhoofd (NL)
- Art Fair Den Bosch (NL)
- Kunst op de brink, Laren (NL)
- Art Laren, Kunst op de brink, Laren (NL)
- Kunst- en antiekbeurs Hasselt (B)
- Classic, Kortrijk (B)
- Art Breda (NL)
- Expo Art fair, Tielt (B)
- Galerie Atmosfera, Kortrijk (B)
- Galerie Léon Keuninckx, Grand-Rechain (B)
Professional equipment
The images of the paintings shown on this site are made with professional equipment.
For example, the lenses have been developed with the utmost precision in Japan to display the finest details and color nuances.
This way you, as a viewer, can be sure that you get a realistic view of the painting.
