With pleasure I will introduce myself . My name is Jan Dirk Smit and I use the name Dircke when painting. Originally I come from Hillegom and lived there for many years. I worked as a graphic artist, later I became a project-manager with a direct-marketing company. Being a graphic artist brought me to first the inspiration to draw and, later, to handle the paintbrush from my colleague, the well-known artist Cor Hak from Haarlem. From then on I became more and more passionate about drawing and painting. From 2000 on I started to exhibit my work and there is recognition both in the Netherlands and abroad, more so then I even thought possible. I am a “self-taught artist” and find my inspiration in people, especially the story behind their character that made them the way they are.

Emotions,  memories and/or serenity are my favorite topics. Also I do assignments, often portraits. In the meantime I moved to Lisse and have an atelier and exhibition-space of my own. This website will be renewed regularly and new exhibitions will be announced.
I hope you enjoy the website and look forward to your reaction.

Jan Dircke