Music and color inspire artist MarianneB Van Der Haar’s vivid, energetic abstract paintings. Enjoy more of her work by visiting her website.
Having lived in different countries in the world, I have been enriched by many cultures that influence the way I create my art. I apply layers upon layers of boldly colored paint on the canvas using a palette knife and my fingers to shape each piece as a unique expression of my life experiences. My German heritage gave me discipline and a sense of purpose.
When I was twenty-one, I moved to the Netherlands to learn the Dutch language and liberal way of life. During the late 1970s, my husband and I lived in Tanzania for four years, where I was enlivened by the richness of African art, from the way they used found items to make toys and tools, to their intricate wood sculptures and colorful batik fabrics.
After returning to the Netherlands to raise a family in the 1980s, I pursued a career in interior design that taught me to appreciate aesthetic arrangements of colors in fabric and furniture.
I started painting in the year 2000 when my new life in Atlanta encouraged me to pick up a set of acrylics. Instantly, I found I loved composing colorful works of art on large canvases.
I am purely self-taught, and as I have grown as an artist, my supply cabinet has expanded to include not only acrylics, but also materials such as ink, sand, metal powders and textiles.
My creative style ranges from purely abstract—with pieces that evoke an emotion—to works that include flowers or figures. These offer an abstract, but slightly more concrete vision of what I sense from the world, the environment and the seasons.
I am particularly known for my color flow, but every time I work with my tools of choice—whether they are brushes, plastic cards, scrapers, palate knives or simply my fingers—the result is always a new artistic surprise.
My work can be seen in galleries around Atlanta. I received a first prize in abstract painting at the Ocala Fine Art Show in 2007. Online, one of my paintings received the Masterpiece Elite San Francisco award for 2008/2009. Since 2014, my art has been selected each year to be included in the American Art Collector.
In addition to creating art for display in homes and galleries, I also teach personalized, small-group classes for both adults and children at my home studio.
Artist MarianneB Van Der Haar invites you to follow her on Facebook.
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