About the Artist

MARIELLE  (Helga Ruiterman)

Marielle is a passionate established Canadian artist specializing in acrylic and oil on canvas.

Her body of work may best be comprehended when subdivided by theme, such as the Portraiture Collection, Floral Collection, Landscapes, Wildlife and Still Life Collections . Her themes emerge from photographs taken on her world travels and from her personal collection of heritage photography.

Marielle's style is modernistic and may best be described as “contemporary realism”. She utilizes vivid colours and large canvases to capture the viewer's attention and fill them with joy and pleasure. She is a prolific artist with hundreds of paintings in her portfolio and approximately 80 available in stock.

She was born in Germany and immigrated to Canada in the late 50's. As a child she spent hours in her father's workshop. It was here, while leafing through books and art cards of the masters, Renoir, Monet, Matisse and Van Gogh that she learned to love the vivid colours of paint. She started to paint professionally in 1982.

Marielle has studied extensively with Francis Landsberg at the Studio by the Sea in West Vancouver , as well as with Lyle McDonald, Mort Harris and Greg Albert. She is a member of CIPA (Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists ). Her idol is Daniel Izzard.

For the past 18 months, Marielle has been a featured artist at the Plaza Galleries, recognized as Whistler's largest and most important fine art gallery specializing in international quality fine art. Prior to the Plaza Galleries, her work was represented by The Old Custom House Gallery ( Britannia Beach ), Artful Things (South Surrey) and New Port Gallery (Squamish) and exhibited at the Kay Meek Centre ( West Vancouver ) among others.

Five of her paintings were recently purchased by the Listel Best Western Hotel in Whistler Resort, to enliven and brighten their hotel lobby. Another 12 paintings have recently been sold to private collectors through her in-house B&B / Art Gallery called Renoirs Winter Garden.

In addition to painting, Marielle is also the curator of Whistler Millennium Place Art Gallery and is responsible for coordinating continuous rotating exhibits in the gallery.

She lives in the mountain resort of Whistler, British Columbia with her husband Paul. She adores the mountains and enjoys painting mountain landscapes along with the local black bears. Her portfolio may be viewed at www.marielleart.com .

Marielle
3137 Tyrol Crescent
Whistler, BC V0N 1B3
Tel. 604 938 0546