I am John Merkus, born on July 20, 1952, in Delft. I have been living in North Brabant for 40 years. I have a HBO education and in the last years before my retirement, I worked at the municipality of Gilze Rijen as a policy officer for art and culture. Captivated by art, I started painting. I have presented my paintings to the public to take them into my world. Emotion is leading, and there is space for the viewer to give their interpretation of the work. I call that the interaction with the audience. I have participated in various exhibitions in Gilze Rijen. A nice anecdote is that a few years ago I received the golden thumb from the province of North Brabant. This as recognition for the effort to promote amateur art.

My motto is that art is the cement in society. Art connects.