Bio

Marijke Simons was born in Amsterdam, grew up in Montréal, and later settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She studied fine arts at various art schools in Montréal, Amsterdam, London, Toronto, and Halifax. In 1989, she established an art studio where she taught elementary and secondary school students as well as teaching art within the Halifax School Board. In addition to teaching, Marijke worked as an illustrator and writer of children’s books and participated in group art exhibitions in Halifax and Dartmouth. She has now retired from teaching and is able to devote time to her artwork

Artist Statement

As a visual arts teacher, I explored a wide range of media. Recently I have found a renewed focus in oil painting, where I am particularly interested in how light reveals form and renders material qualities ephemeral. At the moment, flowers have become a central subject in my work. Their fragile beauty provides a means of exploring transience, and impermanence. I am entranced by the way light shines through petals as well as across their surfaces, while others are cast in shadows. There is a quiet magic about this interplay that I wish to capture.