Artist and painter Marleen Vermeulen received most of her art education in the Netherlands, where she enjoyed an extensive international and award-winning career in graphic design, before settling in BC in 1994. Below, Marleen shares her favourite ways to spend time outdoors on the Sunshine Coast and inspiration behind her detailed oil paintings.

Born, raised and educated in the Netherlands, I immigrated in ’94 with my young family to the Sunshine Coast in BC. Inspired by the beautiful expansive and raw nature of the Pacific West Coast, I started painting large textured canvasses with the intention of capturing the beauty, expanse and feeling the landscape radiates, so that I can share my interpretation of this special moment with others.

For me it’s really more about re-creating an experience rather than producing a painting. I ‘push the paint around’ until my canvas correctly portrays the feeling I intend to share with the viewer. Over time I have developed my own signature style; up close my work feels impressionistic, sometimes almost abstract, while from a distance it takes on a far more realistic perspective. I have been represented by the Kurbatoff Gallery in Vancouver for over a decade and my work has been sold all over the world.

On spending time outdoors

I love hiking and long walks or runs with my dogs in the forest. Especially in the summer, I love to go kayaking and venturing out in nature for longer periods of time. I feel incredibly lucky living on the Sunshine Coast which gives me all these activity options ‘in our back yard’. For years we owned a cabin on Nelson Island, Waterfront, with off-grid, boat access only where we would spend lots of time as a family.

Being in nature grounds me and brings me back to the basics, reminding me what really matters in life. The beauty in the chaos of the natural world inspires me as an artist…I feel connected and ‘one’ with all that it is. As a painter, I am always aiming to share this experience of beauty and it reinforces and deepens the connection feel with the subjects I paint.

The Sunshine Coast, Dakota Bowl, Tetrahedron Provincial Park, and back country here are definitely places to be. Tofino is one of my favourite places to depart from and explore the Clayoquot Sound on my kayak adventures. I am always inspired by the pockets of old growth forest which still exist on Vancouver Island, such as the areas around Port Renfrew and Tofino.

On creating art inspired by nature

The beauty of the landscape contains a narrative…I listen and I am heard.

This conversation is the starting point of my relationship with nature which is defined by three elements. As an artist, these elements stand out for me in a very prominent way.

When looking at the ocean and coastal mountain ranges, expanse is definitely a distinctive characteristic that is hard to deny when looking at British Columbia’s vast landscapes – no human intervention, the rawness of the land.

The second prominent element is light, which is mesmerizing to me. It leaves a signature on whatever is present; it defines the moment as is, always leaving it unique.

Last, but not least, are the different textures and the way they communicate with my senses. The bark of a tree, the softness of the moss, the sand on the beach, the smoothness of a reflection in the water…

A favourite painting and the inspiration behind it

I would love to share a forest painting since it’s defined by the ordinary, everyday experience of walking my dogs. When spending time in the forest, I realize how chaotic the composition would be if you were to focus on a small window looking at the forest. Leaves, branches, thick, thin, different directions, large, small, hundreds of colours.

After years of experience, it’s still hard to paint this “chaos” without consciously falling back into some form of organization. Before I know it, the branches are all pointed in the same direction or have the same thickness. Only by letting go of the outcome completely, I seem to be able to create this natural beauty on canvas, by trusting, feeling my way through, truly living in the moment. This painting to me has a perfect depiction of the natural chaos, it feels whole and one with nature.

Marleen’s advice for getting outside and unplugged

Stillness, being. Like I mentioned before... spending time drawing or painting nature creates an intimate connection and appreciation for detail. It’s a different way of “seeing” and waking up to a whole new and magical perspective to experience.

Thank you so much, Marleen!