Sitka Spruce, Haida Gwaii

About the Artist:

A passionate landscape painter, Maria Josenhans creates oil paintings both outdoors on location and in her North Vancouver studio. As an artist for nearly four decades, Maria's work plays back and forth between representational and abstract as she allows each painting to find its own unique path. Her career has been shaped by long periods of immersion in large format photography, working as an illustrator, training, competing and adjudicating Highland dance, teaching, and travelling the world by bicycle. Maria holds a BFA with Honors from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, and continues to take part in Invitational Plein Air events both nationally and abroad.

Artist's Statement

Direct observation is at the core of all of my painting. When I am struck by something my impulse is to describe it in paint. I want to study its tangible and intangible qualities, and to notice something that perhaps was thought too banal for consideration. I find that given time, most things reveal themselves as perfect, just as they are. Observing and translating my vision, thoughts and feelings into paint is how I have come to reconcile my desire to paint with my insatiable love of the outdoors. If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, then it is my hope that when others look at my paintings they too may recall their own unguarded moments with nature and delight in a tender tribute to the ordinary.