I’m Maria, an artist, designer and creative. Mama of two wonderful and wild kids. Part Dutch, part Greek, now living in Munich, Germany.
Coming from a fine arts background with studies in painting, sculpture and digital art, my journey took me from Maastricht in the Netherlands via Konstfack in Stockholm, Sweden, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, NL, for my BFA, and then to New York University, where I earned a Master of Arts degree. I then spent a couple of years working digitally as a designer and art director, mostly doing web design and ID for big name agencies in NYC.
After a move back to Europe and more years of digital work, my desire to combine on-screen with off-screen work, grew, and I created my one-of-a-kind indígena jewelry that has grown to sell online and in several boutiques across Germany.
In the past years, the pull to work even more using my hands again grew stronger, and I immersed myself in drawing and painting.
It is the kind of work that I have always been most passionate about, but it’s enriched with the wealth of knowledge and experience that I have gathered across the fields of art and design over the years.
I now love:
- illustrating on paper with watercolors, inks and gouache, obsessing about details and composition.
- the challenge of working BIG on shop windows and murals, using generous brushstrokes and bold colors.
- pouring my heart and soul into children’s books illustrations and make stories come to life with my art.
- exploring surface pattern and stationery designs with lush watercolor florals.
Contact me for commissions and children’s books requests.
For licensing, please contact Hannah at my licensing agency Creative Sparrow.
“I believe in following my own path, my passions and my heart, in setting the rules that allow me to grow and thrive as an artist: keep learning, explore new paths, grow through practice, work hard, and share generously.”
Illustration work clients include
arsEdition, cbj / Random House Publishing, Magellan Verlag
eeBoo Piece & Love, Ravensburger Puzzles, JOANN’s Stores, P&B Textiles, Design Group Americas, Design House Greetings, American Greetings, Calypso Cards, Pictura, PPD, Edition Gollong, Grätz Verlag, Gutsch Verlag, Abacus Cards, Glick, Oh Deeer, Droemer Knaur publishing group, Pier 1, Holunderelfe, Milk, Whistlefish. SBK (Siemens Betriebskrankenkasse), Straubinger Tagblatt, Schlossbrauerei Maxlrain, and more…
Past clients, mostly in design, web and CI include
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Allianz, Siemens, Deutsche Telekom, Comedy Central, MTV, bulthaup, Betty Barclay, Belinea, Audubon Society, Atlas Copco, Giorgio Armani, GU Verlag, Jonathan Adler, Merck MSD, Novartis, Biomax, Saturn, Verizon, Weleda and many more
Here is what I’ve been working on recently
I’m so proud to finally have my own online shop and offer glicée prints! See it here
I’ve been busy creating two new jigsaw puzzles for eeBoo and Ravensburger, and a new collection for Grätz Verlag, among other projects. More as soon as I can share!
Have you seen my bird mobile yet? I recently released a limited number of blue watercolored birds flying on mobiles and into people’s home through my Etsyshop
I’m always busy with my handmade indígena jewelry adding new pieces offline and online to boutiques, my Etsyshop and on Instagram @indigenajewelry
