• Acrylics on canvas
• Measurements canvas: 80 x 80 cm

Loving yourself. As gentlemen. Loving your body. With all your imperfections.
When I first heard this years ago, I thought it sounded a little weird. Self-love is sometimes associated with self-aggrandizement, vanity and selfishness. Nothing is less true. By now I know better: loving yourself is so important!

Because I was confronted with an autoimmune disease in which all my hair fell out a few years ago, my appearance changed enormously. In fact, I ended up in quite an identity crisis, because I no longer recognized my reflection (because: completely bald). I didn’t want to languish and decided to confront myself: sit in front of the mirror for fifteen minutes every day and just look at myself. Face everything there is without judgement. And most of all: give myself a little love. Of course I didn’t meet my ideal image of beautiful, healthy and long hair at all. And the pitfall is to punish yourself for that reason: because you cannot live up to that ideal image of yourself, of someone else, of society. But there is so much more! And believe me, if you dare to look, you will see so many beautiful things about yourself. And maybe I would have preferred a smaller nose, narrower hips, nice smooth skin and no scars, but on the other hand: those things make me who I am. Being able to accept yourself as you are is the key to happiness. And having a little loving thoughts about yourself contributes greatly to that. You will definitely feel better about yourself. Even though it may not work every day, it is always worth at least trying.

This unique rose symbolizes self love, happiness and gratitude. There is no one like you and everything about your true self is beautiful: just love yourself! The pink tones of this painting stimulate softness and, in particular, represent love for yourself.

What do you like about yourself? Have you ever stood in front of the mirror to look at yourself without judgement?