In 1980, Ad started painting. After years pursuing various creative endeavors, he opened two exclusive galleries in the Sonesta and Krasnapolsky hotels in Amsterdam in 1983. His tulip paintings are best known.

In 1990, Ad began to focus on making silkscreens of his own paintings. He achieved such good quality that soon other artists also had their work silkscreened by Ad. For example, he was Herman Brood’s house printer for 12 years. Corneille, Jan Cremer, Rob Scholte, Shunyam, Peter Diem and many other artists also made frequent use of his expertise.

After the disappearance of artists such as Herman Brood and Corneille, Ad saw the opportunity to specialize in a completely new technique, namely the use of CNC laser cutting and milling of various plastic materials to create crazy colored sculptures.