Featured Artists

Michele Van Maurik was born into an artistic family and started painting at a very early age; her father was an accomplished painter from Utrecht in Holland and had a studio in their home.  Michele’s early career was very successful as a commercial artist and muralist.  Since moving to Oakville in 2010, she has been painting full time as a fine artist.

Proficient in both oils and pastels, she paints a variety of subjects from florals and still lifes, to landscapes and portraits.  A love of nature and the outdoors has inspired her latest series of work, celebrating the art of florals.  “Flowers are nature’s eye candy! I love to capture the translucency of light shining thru a petal, their organic shapes and vibrant colors.”  Michele’s paintings were very well received at the McMichael Canadian art gallery, where she was named as one of the top ten artists for the third year in a row! One of the highlights of Michele’s career, was being invited to represent Canada at the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts held at the Louvre this past December with her painting, “Dancing Orchids”.  This is the second year in a row exhibiting in France;   In 2013, “Tournesol” had garnered the attention of the president of the Arts Sciences and Lettres Academy of Paris.  She was awarded the Medaille d’Argent (Silver Medal) for excellence in painting.  While attending the awards ceremony this past June, Michele became inspired by the beautiful gardens on the grounds of the Rodin Museum and is busy creating paintings for her new series “Fleurs dans le jardin Rodin”.  This past September, Michele’s painitngs, “Purple Rhapsody” and “Sundance” were juried into the Artistes du Monde Cannes by Marina Picasso, who she had the pleasure of meeting.

Michele’s painting, “Ballet of Petals” was selected as the grand prize winner of International Artist Magazine’s floral competition and her work will be featured in American Art Collector in 2015.