Oil and Pastel painter, Mya Louw, was born in Rotterdam, Holland.  She has lived, studied and worked in South Africa, Europe and the United States.  Her formal, classical art training began at thirteen after being overawed by the mammoth work of Rembrandt’s “Nightwatch”.  Graduate studies, after obtaining a Fine Arts degree with Honors in Painting at Rhodes University in South Africa, were done at Polytechnics and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.  The quest for an ‘ultimate painting’ continues with research and studies both locally and abroad.

Mya’s earlier work was largely influenced by the Dutch School  and later, the wide-open spaces and bright colors of the African landscape where she lived and painted for thirty years.  This training and influence has manifested itself in the Northern Californian Landscapes.  The vast, beautiful plains of the surrounding landscape have proven a new challenge since settling in California ten years ago.  The quality of infinite space and   rolling hills is what she attempts to capture in her landscapes.  She does this with vibrant colors whilst pushing the medium and subject matter to new boundaries with every canvas.

The ‘ying’ to her yang’ are her “ladies” who provocatively pout or pose in humor and bright color. Mya is a firm believer of surrounding yourself with happy colors to foster a happy disposition.  The artist believes the future of the arts in all its forms to be in constant jeopardy, and is therefore actively involved in raising funds to foster and encourage new talents, and to further create public awareness of the importance of a healthy society being surrounded by ‘living’ art.

Her work may be found in private and corporate collections in the United States, Holland, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and South Africa.  Various local galleries and art brokers represent the artist. She is a Crocker Art Museum Auction invitational the last 6 years, has juried local art shows and has been published locally and in South Africa.  Mya paints full-time and welcomes all art lovers to her studio in Granite Bay, California.

Louw@surewest.net
(916) 772 2402