From a letter from Hans Peeters.

“I have savored your paintings, Joseph, almost daily. To my eye, water is the great unifying theme, no matter which way those sometimes unbelievable colors take you. Even land-based scenes — flowers, woodlots, birds — seem water images (reflections?) tilted upright, an impression that is of course enhanced by the translucency of the medium (Summer’s End 2004 is a perfect example). Seen as water paintings, these works invite exploration of their depths and their mysteries, their allusions, suggestions, and ever-changing shapes. 
Colors diffuse or form briefly solid objects or outline biomorphic shapes — how watery is that?

The great translucent white fish in “Spirit” (2006) did not strike me as crucifix-like, at least not in the beginning; rather, I saw it as a mothership hovering while its smaller adjunct vessels explore the incredible diversity and wealth of space, either aquatic or cosmic. 
Must be my areligious, biologist’s eye. And I see the orderly movement and comportment of the fish in “Pond, Fish Reflections” (2005) 
as an example of the intrinsic symmetry of nature, as also reflected in the leaves.

Yet, boisterous life coils below the surface, erupting here and there (Life Streams, 2004). 
And blues are everywhere, painted by someone who must love to gaze into the sky, a dreamer…”