Marleen Vermeulen

Marleen Vermeulen received most of her art education in the Netherlands where she was born. She is a graduate of the Design Academy in Eindhoven and the Academy of Fine Arts in Utrecht.

In the 80`s and early 90`s Marleen enjoyed an extensive international and award winning career in graphic design before settling on the Sunshine Coast, Canada, in 1994. Inspired by the natural beauty of the Pacific West Coast, she chose to focus on her art in the form of a series of oversized oil paint canvases. The sheer scale of the canvases and texture of the oil paint amplifies the effect of natural expanse.

`The beauty of the landscape talks to me...it is the starting point of my conversation with nature as I experience it, living life on the Pacific West Coast.
My conversation is defined by three elements, which stand out for me in a very prominent way. Overlooking the ocean on a daily basis, expanse definitely is one of those elements hard to deny.
The second prominent element is light, which to me is mesmerizing. It leaves a signature on whatever is present. It defines the moment as is.
Last, but not least, the different textures as they play with my senses. The bark of a tree, the softness of the mosses, the sand on the beach, the smoothness of a reflection in the water....
My goal is to capture the beauty, the moment and the feeling the landscape shares with me, so I can share that experience with others. Painting for me on one hand is like a merger with nature; on the other hand there is this awareness of shaping the image.`