Bert Smulders

Biography

Bert was born in the Netherlands and moved to Canada in 1969 with his family. He attended UBC for both his undergraduate studies and his dentistry degree. After graduation, he enjoyed practicing dentistry in Aldergrove for over 38 years before semi-retiring to the Sunshine Coast in 2014. In 2016 he was diagnosed with a macular hole and eventually underwent surgery to have it repaired. The surgery failed and eventually, his eyesight was no longer good enough for him to continue to practice dentistry. The irony of his sudden and rather unexpected success as an artist is not lost on those that know about his failing eyesight.

He has always enjoyed the creative process and has often said that he would have loved to have been a concert pianist. That dream was dashed by a diagnosis of Dupuytren's contracture. In spite of these physical challenges, he started painting in March 2017. He has taken courses online, and classes from a few local artists but is essentially self-taught. He has dabbled in pencil sketches, watercolours, pastels, oils, and acrylics. He has decided that he will probably focus on acrylics and pastels (at least for now), but he is always looking for new challenges, so who knows what the future holds. 

He lives in Gibsons with his wife Lura, who often provides inspiration for his work with her photographs. He enjoys spending time with his large extended family, travel, entertaining, and working in his garden. He is an avid cyclist, a mercurial golfer, and a soccer and tennis fan.