I was born and raised in the south of the Netherlands. Even though I wanted to go to art school, I went for an engineering/science career. When I was a PhD student at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, a friend of mine and I would go on little photography trips and, among others, would visit and photograph locations that Van Gogh had painted.
After I graduated with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering I came to San Diego in 2003 to work as a postdoc at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). I liked it so much here that I decided I was going to pursue a career in science in the USA (that is, San Diego). I went from postdoc to project scientist to research scientist and did photography on the side.
In 2008 I founded Eyeball Photography with my wife Marie (who is a native San Diegan). I started participating in art shows and galleries and home decor shows also started to represent me.
In 2014, I decided to go full-time with my art career, changed my business name to “Roy Kerckhoffs Art,” and moved from Normal Heights to North County.
In 2015 I became a US citizen.
About Roy Kerckhoffs
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I met my wife Marie in San Diego in 2005. Our daughter Kate is 15 years old.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
I loved the research I did in which I created computational models of cardiac electromechanics and used those to investigate the effects of ventricular pacing on cardiac contraction. Later I also modeled cardiac growth. Now, I love being on my own and I create my art from scratch: I do my own printing and framing. I hand color my black and white photographs with oils, acrylics, watercolors or pastels. It’s an old technique from right after photography was invented. It was popular till the mid 1900’s when Kodak came out with Kodachrome color film.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Be realistic about goals and expectations. I am not a big fan of the saying “If you believe in yourself, you can do anything”. You can’t, I can’t. I’m not saying don’t try or give up easily, I’m just saying be aware of limitations.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
I hope to create more original paintings with oils and gouache.
Roy Kerckhoffs & Our Community
Q: What are a few of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Bali Hai around sunset; Miguel’s; Brussels Bistro in San Clemente where they serve bitterballen.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
21 years
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
My wife.
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
DiMille’s Italian Restaurant in Normal Heights, which is where my wife and I went from during our early dating days to when we left Normal Heights. And ArtWare in San Diego, which is also closed now. The owner – Jeremy – framed my artwork early on and later helped me with getting all the equipment so I could do it myself.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
The weather and the ocean, which were big factors in my decision to stay.
Q: If you could choose anyone alive today and not a relative, with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?
Alastair Reynolds, my favorite (sci-fi) author and we’d have lunch at L’Atelier Paris in Carlsbad.
For Fun
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
The Sixth Sense and the best show of all times: Breaking Bad.
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A scar on the back of my head from when I fell backwards on a glass table when I was little.
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
The nature in California, we have it all here! Also, having no deserts in Europe I visited the Mojave and Colorado Deserts shortly after I arrived in San Diego. Joshua Tree National Park definitely also gets a 10/10!
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
My daughter.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
When something goes wrong or run into problems, first look at yourself.
Q: What Neighborhood do you live in?
South Carlsbad
What I love about my Neighborhood:
When we moved to Carlsbad my wife wanted to have everything in a 15-minute radius: by working from home (the both of us), and having the beach and Kate’s school nearby, we accomplished that.
Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend:
Stand-up paddle boarding on the ocean early in the morning, boogie-boarding with my family, taking pictures of the coast with my hand held camera or drone, snorkeling at the cove, dinner at Shakespeare Pub on India Street, followed by an improv show at the National Comedy Theatre.
Q: Finally, what three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Family, gezellig, sunsets.
